Extreme Time Warp
by Vixen1
Summary: Time has always been a mystery, but when the chance to travel back through time arises, the Perfect Soldier takes the challenge. But he doesn't leave without the help of a familar blonde historian... Why the 1950's? EPILOGUE IS HERE!
1. Jules Vern

Extreme Time Warp

~~~Hi everyone! Due to a sudden bout of inspiration, I have decided to start a new fic! I promise it will be original- I always try to be original and I hope that I succeed. Anyway, one thing that isn't original is the couple- Moon/Yui as usual!

~~~**Rated Pg-13**- Unless I decide to be weird, this should actually be non-violent! Still there should be a fair amount of lime and darker suggestion, so prepare for randomness!

~~~I DO NOT BELIEVE IN DISCLAIMERS!

Chapter One: Jules Vern 

*"Trowa! Where are you?" A pretty red head called up and down the halls of a seemingly deserted mansion. "Trowa!" She called again. The woman had been looking for her boyfriend for almost ten minutes, and, knowing herself, she had probably managed to get herself lost in the huge house.

"Cathy?" A soft but deep voice rumbled behind her. She screamed and spun around. In front of her stood the very man she had been looking for. 

"Trowa!" She sighed in relief. "Don't scare me like that!" She frowned as she saw the small smirk play across his normally passive face, and she was sure that underneath his long reddish bangs his green eyes were laughing at her.

"Sorry Cathy."

"Well." She stood speechless for a moment. Then she collected herself and started again. "Quatre's looking for everyone, and he was able to find everyone except for you! So he sent me to find you naturally."

"Naturally."

"Oh, stop mocking me Trowa. Honestly!" But she grinned.

"What does Quatre want?" Trowa asked his girlfriend. Quatre was their mutual friend, as well as the owner of the large mansion they were sharing. Yes, they.

There were nine of them in all. Trowa had to smile thinking of them. All of them were so different, from different backgrounds with different opinions; yet they all managed to end up with the same damned philosophy on life. Without wondering how, Trowa just accepted it. It was too much work to think about whys. Still, it was amusing to think about.

Their 'faction,' as they had come to call themselves jokingly, consisted of four women and five men. Trowa shot a look at his girlfriend and thought of what she had said. 

Quatre Winner had been his best friend since as long as he had learned to trust another human being. Besides Cathy, of course. Quatre had short, white blonde hair and baby blue eyes that his girlfriend, Dorothy, claimed showed the future to anyone who looked deep enough into them. Quatre was the heart of their faction, no doubt. He had taken them in, given them a home with him, and was always cheerful on top of it. Trowa liked the contrast between himself and his best friend; it made for interesting discussions.

Of course, if Trowa really wanted to have an interesting discussion, he could turn to another if his good friends, Duo. Duo Maxwell, with his long, brown, braided hair and light violet eyes was the spirit of their faction. He was constantly livening things up with his practical pranks, lame knock-knock jokes, and the occasional slip in verbage when he was speaking to his girlfriend, Hilde, or another of their mutual friends, Wufei.

Wufei Chang, Duo's best friend, was often the 'hothead' or 'chauvinist' of the group. He and Duo constantly fought, you would never have known they were best friends unless you had tried to kill one of them. If you had, the other would be on you so fast you wouldn't have time to beg forgiveness. Trowa had long since attributed Wufei's dark moods to the fact that his short raven hair was pulled into a tight ponytail at the base of his neck. It had to be painful… of course, his girlfriend, Sally Po, claimed it was merely projection or some such nonsense. Trowa didn't care at this point.

But of all the men in their 'faction', there was one that still didn't quite have the feel for the group. Hiiro Yui. Trowa shuddered thinking about Hiiro sometimes. Hiiro was the only one of them that lacked any sense of humor. In fact, if Hiiro didn't come down for dinner every once in a while, Trowa would have assumed he was some robot and not a real human. It wasn't that Hiiro was silent, per say. He just didn't interact with them as much. Still, somehow the boy with deep azure blue eyes, messy chocolate hair, and pallid skin had become a part of their faction as much as anyone else. 

"Trowa! Stop thinking and listen to me!" Trowa snapped out of his thoughts as Cathy yelled his named. Frowning at the angry in her voice, he decided he had better listen to her.

"I'm sorry Cathy. What were you saying?"

"I _was_ telling you that Quatre had something to show you, but you obviously don't care one way or the other…"

"No! Cathy, I care. I'm sorry. What does he want to show us?"

"Come and see!" She squealed, then grabbed his hand and began dragging him down the hallway. They made it down the stairs and into a parlor near the front of the house. When the couple entered, they found everyone- minus Hiiro- was waiting for them.

"Hey Trowa!" Half the people in the room greeted him. He nodded to them, then sat down in an empty chair beside where Catherine had settled herself.

"OK. Now that everyone's here, I can begin!" Quatre smiled warmly at his friends.

"As you all know, I began reading the Jules Vern book The Time Machine about year ago."

"Quatre, you called us in here to celebrate the fact that you just finished a short book that took you a year to read?" Duo laughed and snorted. "No offense man, but that's pathetic."

"I was getting there Duo." But Quatre did have a light red tinge to his cheeks. Dorothy, who sat beside him, laughed and pecked him on the cheek, thus exacerbating the blushing.

"Quat dear heart, tell them already!" Dorothy prodded him. Quatre laughed with her and cleared his throat.

"Right. Well, I just finished reading the Jules Vern book The Time Machine, and had a bit of a brainstorm."

"Wait!" Duo interrupted again. "Let me guess! You want to build a time machine!" He snorted. Even Wufei had a hard time keeping a straight face. Trowa smiled and Catherine beside him laughed.

"I'm sure it isn't anything so hair-brained Duo. Quatre _is_ known for his brain, in case you've forgotten."

"Actually," Quatre interrupted clearing his throat one more time. "I uh, I was thinking about sponsoring the building of a time machine." By this time, the poor blonde boy had his head lowered and his shoulders slumped. Silence rang throughout the room. 

Very quietly, the sound of a choked on cough rang out in their ears. Then another, followed by another. Beside Duo Hilde was sniggering and trying to keep it in. Finally her face became so purple Trowa thought she might blow up before she just laughed. But he didn't have to wait much longer until she did. Her loud, clear laughter carried throughout the room and was soon joined by most everyone else's. The only ones who weren't laughing were Dorothy, and, of course, Quatre. 

"What?" Quatre shouted frustrated. "What is so funny? Don't any of you think it just might be possible to travel time? To see the past?"

"Sure Quatre!" Hilde managed to catch her breath. "In a sci-fi thriller maybe. But Quatre, this is reality."

"I have to agree with her Quatre. Time is, well, unbendable. Humans created it that way. The only way you might be able to travel time is through a black hole, and Quatre, if you did that, you wouldn't be able to live or return to tell about it." Sally told him at point blank.

"My woman makes a good point. How would you even go about a time machine? I'm sorry Winner, but it is just not possible."

"Sorry Quatre, but I have to agree with them." Trowa felt he had to set his friend straight. "A book of it is well enough, but to take it to a physical level? It's bordering insanity Quatre."

"Sorry Quatre." Catherine shook her head. "Come on Trowa, let's go start dinner." He nodded, and soon all of them had drifted off, leaving Quatre and Dorothy to their own devices.

"I'm sorry Quat dear heart. It looks like the majority has spoken." She patted Quatre's head gently. He sighed.

"I know it sounded a little crazy, but it would have been fun to at least try."

"I know dear, I know. I'm going to go help Cathy and Trowa in the kitchen. Want to come?"

"I'll be there in a moment." Quatre shook his head and rubbed his face with his hands. When Dorothy had left the room, he settled back into the chair. Feeling haggard and old, his bones ached and his heart felt dull as it thudded in his breast. 

"Build it."

"Huh?"

"Build it." Quatre looked around frantically. Great. Now he was hearing voices! Maybe he really _was_ insane! "Quatre." The small blonde jumped in his chair as a dark figure slipped out from the inky shadows of the walls.

"Hiiro! You scared me there! What do you mean build it?"

"If you want to build it, then build it. Don't let them have the final say. If you really meant to go through with it, you'd do it anyway."

"You have a good point. But I thought it would be fun if we all worked on it together, you know?"

"No."

"I don't suppose you do." Quatre's eyes widened. "I didn't mean it that way Hiiro. I just meant, well…"

"I know. Build it anyway."

"Hiiro, not to be rude or anything, but why the sudden interest in convincing me to build a time machine?" But when Quatre looked up to where Hiiro had been, he found the spot empty. Then he heard the door click and new Hiiro had slipped out.

Hiiro did unnerve him, he really did. He was always so silent and dark. He had a shroud heavier than death's about his shoulders, and his eyes told an unnumbered of stories of all he had seen. But he had been so adamant about this machine being built. Hiiro very rarely participated to such an extent. Quatre nodded to himself.

Standing, he made his way to the door and out into the hallway. Pacing quickly down the tiled hallway, he reached the kitchen, where a group of busy people were working to put together a meal.

"Everyone?" He shouted over the noise. Silence befell them as they looked to him for his announcement. "I don't care how far-fetched or crazy I sound. I'm building my time machine. I would _like_ all of you to help me, of course, but I'll understand if you don't."

"Quatre?" Trowa asked, the questions in his eyes.

"As I was told: 'if I want to build it, I'll build it, I don't need to let you all have the final say.'" He announced in triumph. "Besides, it'll be fun!"

"Well alright then!" Duo cheered after a few moments on silence. "Let's build the sucker!"

"Yeah!" Hilde joined him whooping. The others were soon either cheering with them, or chatting excitedly about the machine.

"Hey Quat!" Dorothy called to him from across the kitchen. "Who told you that?"

"You won't believe me if I tell you." The blonde shook his head, smiling knowingly.

"Try us!" Sally smirked.

"Hiiro did." And the room fell to silence once more. *

~~~Hey all! I hope this struck your fancy! Trust me, though it started out a bit slowly, it will very shortly come to focus on Hiiro and Sere, I promise! Also, I am very sorry if I'm a little slow to update- I was in a car accident (NOT my fault, I was rear ended) and I've thrown my back out badly. But I'll work hard, I promise! Please be sweet and review! Much Love, Vixen~~~


	2. Woodstock, Heart Surgery, or No Electric...

Chapter Two: Woodstock, Heart-Surgery, or No Electricity?

*"Hey Quatre!" 

"Yeah Hilde?" Quatre grunted beneath the weight of a giant beam of steal he, Trowa and Duo were lifting.

"I thought you said this was Hiiro's idea."

"Well, in a way. He told me to do it even though you all thought it was a lame idea, so I suppose so. Why?"

"Then where is he? Shouldn't God-boy be helping with something he was so interested in doing? Ouch!" Hilde, and Catherine who was beside her, flinched as she cut a wrong wire and sparks flew.

"Yeah, that's a pretty good question. Hiiro's better with the electronics than any of us. If he wanted this time machine so badly, why didn't he show up to do his fair share of work on it?" Sally asked as she swung down from the catwalk above the beginnings of the machine.

"Maybe he's busy?" Catherine asked meekly. The other stared blankly at her, and Wufei let out a low chuckle.

"Dare to dream. Yui's always busy. But if he wanted this enough, he would have come out to see it through."

"Well, even if he's what pushed us into making it and he's not here, we're still making it, so we might as well stop worrying about him." Trowa finally remarked.

"Sure Trowa." Quatre nodded, not really believing the words. Hiiro had reasons. He just hadn't said why. Hiiro always had reasons.

"So Quatre. Tell me how this thing is supposed to work again?" Dorothy asked him as she strapped a rope around another heavy piece of metal and began tugging at it.

"Well, the theory is the same as a black hole. In a black hole, the collapsing space puts so much pressure on a person that they actually begin to see time backwards. It goes so fast, though, that in the blink of an eye it's all over. This machine is built to drop a person into a simulated black hole that puts so much pressure on them and goes so fast that it pushes them back in time."

"Did anyone understand that?" Duo scratched his head.

"Not a word. But let's do this anyway." Sally laughed. The others laughed too, and soon they were hard at work again, creating the masterpiece that would be their time machine.

From the shadows up above them, a silent figure watched, azure eyes intensely focused on the scraps of metal that would become the machine. And then his thin lips unturned in an unusual and uncanny smirk. A time machine. Then he closed his eyes and let the sweet feeling of warmth rush over him. A time machine to travel back in time. Back.

Then he swiftly strode away from the hanger and towards the garage. J would be displeased if he were not on schedule as expected. 

)(

Nearly four weeks later, the group of eight sat laughing and chatting over dinner. Everyone was in a good mood, and everyone felt a strong sense of accomplishment and achievement. Then Quatre stood, holding his glass of red wine high in the air.

"I would like to propose a toast." He cleared his throat. "To the best time machine builders the ESUN has ever seen!"

"Here here!" Duo cheered. They clinked their glasses, but Quatre remained standing. 

"Today we finished a machine that has only been dreamt of for so long in history. We have created a machine that will take us back in time, that will take us back to the past so that we may visit times and eras that have been lost to us throughout the years as we progressed and developed. Now… now we just need one more thing: a test pilot. Who of us is brave enough to try the first trip to the past?"

"Let me do it Quatre! I want to go back to the 2030's and witness Woodstock 2030!" Duo yelled, holding his arms up and screaming wildly.

"Quatre, let's go back to the early pioneer days- before electricity." Trowa suggested.

"I would rather observe the first open heart surgery." Sally intervened. 

"The 1950's." A clear, deep voice rang out. Sometime during their loud talking, Hiiro had joined them at the far end of the large dining table. None of them had even seen the boy slip into his seat.

"Hiiro, the 1950's?" Quatre asked, eyes widening.

"Yes."

"What happened in the fifties? Nothing fun!" Duo whined. "Now in the sixties they had the original Woodstock… that might be fun to watch…"

"No. The fifties."

"Yui, let me get this straight. You show up the same night Quatre tells us he wants to build a time machine, and when we tell him no, you convince him to do it anyway. _Then_ you don't show up for four weeks to help build the machine itself, and _then_ you have the nerve to tell us that you want to go, and go to the 1950's?" Wufei spoke levelly, but with great feeling in his voice.

"Yes."

"What gives you the right?" Wufei asked. "We're the ones that worked hard, not you."

"I was gone after the first day. J sent me on assignment." Hiiro clipped, his eyes narrowing at Wufei.

"J?" Trowa asked. Hiiro now turned his glare towards him.

"Yes."

"I didn't know you still worked for the Doctors." Duo blurted out.

"Hnn."

"Hiiro, why the 1950's?" Quatre asked. But before he had even asked the question, he knew what the answer would be:

"Hnn." Hiiro answered, in sync with Quatre's thoughts.

"Well, unless we get a reason, I still want to see the surgery." Sally looked wistful.

"Now remember everyone, There's no rush. Once we know it works, we'll be able to send everyone. But we don't know that it will work, or for that matter, if it does work, that it's safe." Quatre mediated.

"Safe?" Hilde gulped. "Duo, there is no way in hell I am letting you go first. I want to know it's safe before you go rioting in Woodstock 2030."

"Woman, don't think you're going to watch that surgery of yours until I know the machine is trustworthy."

"Trowa…" Trowa sighed.

"Yes Catherine, I understand." He told her resigned.

"Well Hiiro, I guess that means you do get to go. Unless you don't want to anymore. Then I can understand, but…"

"No. The fifties." The occupants of the table stared openly at the dark boy who had become such an intangible enigma to them all. Was he still on his rocker? He wanted to be the test pilot of a potentially dangerous machine? A life-threatening machine? God only knew what would happen once they actually tried the thing out. It might do nothing, simply sputter gas… or it might burst into flames and incinerate anyone near it… or it might drop them into a black hole… or it might crush them alive… or… it might just send someone back in time.

"Hiiro, it's a rather dangerous trial. If you're still working for the Doctors, they might not be pleased with our decision to be part of this little science experiment." Trowa slowly spoke. Heads around the table began to nod.

"My choice."

"Yes, but doesn't the mission always come before personal choices?" Trowa argued.

"I have no missions at the moment. It is my free time to do with as I see fit. If I decide to endanger my life, that's their problem. My choice. The 1950's."

"Hiiro, we can't let you go alone. There's no way you would ever be able to get along without letting on that you're from a different time. Everything about you screams 'future assassin'." Sally smirked. Wufei chuckled.

"She has a point Yui. No person in the 1950's would believe that you were one of them." He added dryly.

"Not to mention you'll have no background on what is currently going on in that time period. Very few data disks were ever created on the 1950's, and what little we information we had left in books was burned in the fire of AC 15. No one knows much about anything other than they had just finished a massive world war. How are you going to know what to do, how to dress, what to say, what they know, etcetera?" Dorothy chimed in.

"The 1950's." Hiiro stated plainly, his vacant expression not changing an iota. Quatre looked hard at his comrade.

"Alright Hiiro, the 1950's it is. On one condition."

"State condition." Hiiro robotically answered.

"You take with you a historian- someone who knows more about the 1950's and can help you to adjust to the era."

"That would be placing the secrecy of this mission in jeopardy." Hiiro narrowed his eyes to tiny slits. The deep azure glints that caught Quatre's eye made the blonde gulp and swallow hard.

"This isn't a mission, and it isn't necessarily a secret. It's just a science experiment."

"It would also be placing this person in danger. We don't know if the machine works or not. Two lives versus one?"

"We'll find someone willing to take the risk." 

"Yeah, there are some people out there just as suicidally loony as you are Hiiro! It won't be too hard to find one that happens to be an expert on the fifties!" Duo laughed. Hilde joined him, but they were soon silenced by the glares they received around the table.

"Fine. Find me a suicidal loon willing to travel to the fifties by noon tomorrow, or I leave without him." Hiiro pushed his chair back, scrapping it hard against the wooden floor below it, then stood and silently moved out of the room and disappeared into the darkened hallway.

"He, he agreed?" Quatre sputtered.

"He did indeed Quat dear heart. Who would have thought Yui would be coerced so easily?"

"Well, he did give us quite a restricting time limit. Where are we going to find someone to meet our requirements by noon tomorrow? It's almost an impossible request." Sally grumbled.

"Hey, we're the ex-Gundam pilots, and the saviors of the world! If anyone can do it, we can!" Duo exclaimed loudly. Hilde took the opportunity to pinch his side, and he stood up with a painful yelp. "What was that for?" He whined. Then she slapped his rump.

"I just saw the perfect opportunity and couldn't let it go to waste, that's all!" She laughed evilly. Soon the rest of the table joined her, and their problem was momentarily set aside. *

~~~**Well**, here it is guys! This is the **last** GW/SM fic I'll ever **write**, so **enjoy** it while it lasts! So far it's **gotten** off to a **boring** start, I'll openly admit it… but **wait** until I introduce Serena! **Sparks**, as usual, are going to **fly**! **Please** be patient with me, I'm **graduating **in three and a half weeks, so I'm under a little **stress**. On the bright side, I did get asked to the **prom**! Yey! (Not by my **crush** though, darn it!) Well, **beggars** can't be choosers! Lol! **Much **love and please **review**, Vixen~~~


	3. Decades Research

Chapter Three: Decades Research

*When Trowa awoke the next morning, he blinked and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Quickly he realized he was not in bed with his girlfriend Cathy, nor had he fallen asleep on anything remotely comfortable. Rubbing his face tiredly, he stretched his tired muscles and groaned when a kink in the back of his neck started to ache.

"Good morning sunshine!" Duo snorted. "Looks like you had your beauty sleep last night. And I thought you were supposed to be looking for a historian for Hiiro, not falling asleep at the computer." Trowa grinned good-naturedly and looked back at the computer screen. The blank screen had gone dark long ago, and little white dots, supposed stars, were zooming toward him and disappearing before they flew out of the computer screen. 

"I was looking." 

"Really? Find anyone?" Wufei joined them.

"No. I left emails and messages on three or four different message boards, but I highly doubt we'll get anyone willing to do this. There just isn't enough time for people to consider this, and then actually get up enough courage to do this."

"What wimps!" Duo whined.

"Maxwell, you're one of them!" Wufei laughed.

"Not fair! Hilde won't let me go! And besides, you wouldn't let Sally, Mr. Over-protective boyfriend!" Duo glared. Trowa and Wufei chuckled.

"Maybe that's why Hiiro wants to do this?" Quatre said, walking into the library, where they were all chatting. "Let's face it. Hiiro doesn't have anyone he's close to. Sure, he has us, but he doesn't think along the same lines as we do. He sees us as allies, and as potential threats if we ever decide to switch sides. He doesn't have a girlfriend, or family, no one. The only person he has is himself- and his gun, if you'd care to consider that piece of metal machinery as human."

"Why not? Yui's a piece of metal machinery, and we still consider _him_ human." Wufei smirked.

"You're saying he wants to do this because he knows he's the only one who can?" Duo asked, smile gone off his face, seriousness written in his violet eyes.

"Precisely. He doesn't trust anyone else, and he has nothing to lose."

"No, Hiiro isn't that crazy. There has to be an ulterior motive here. Why does he want to go back to the fifties so badly?" Trowa murmured. No one knew the answer.

"And better yet, what happens when he actually gets to the fifties? Everyone he interacts with, talks to, does something for, it could potentially change and rewrite history as we know it." Wufei added. Silence again. Then Duo broke out laughing.

"You guys are getting too philosophical for me! I don't want to think about Hiiro's ulterior motives, or changing history, I just want the poor to lighten up, and if letting him go to the fifties is what it'll take, so be it."

"Duo's right- we're thinking too deeply into this. We need to just relax and stop worrying so much." Quatre grinned. "To hell with changing history!" Trowa and Wufei joined Duo in laughing, and Quatre simply smiled. As they marveled at the simplicity of their new, seemingly profound thoughts, Hilde's loud voice rang out through the house.

"Breakfast boys!" The only one not to jump was Duo. Instead, he grinned idiotically.

"That's my girl!" And off he went, following his nose. 

"It's scary how much alike they are." Wufei shook his head. Quatre grinned.

"Come on, let's go eat." And the remaining three boys took off, at a slightly less brisk pace, towards the kitchen.

Soon all eight of them were gathered around the large breakfast table joking and laughing. Pancakes, cereal, milk, and orange juice were being passed around. Two chairs at the end of the table were empty, but no one took notice of the empty chairs. Hiiro never showed for breakfast, hell, he never _showed_, and the other chair had been gathering dust since Quatre had decided to put them all up in his mansion.

"It's reserved for Hiiro's invisible girlfriend." Duo had always joked. But it was no joke anymore, only a sad reminder of the fact that they all had a friend who was less than mentally stable. Just as everyone settled themselves in, the doorbell rang.

"Quatre, it's what, seven o'clock in the morning? Who'd you set up a meeting with at this godforsaken hour?" Sally joked.

"I didn't set any meetings up." Quatre smiled good-naturedly. "I like my mornings to last as long as possible."

"Master Quatre?" A large, booming voice echoed through the hall.

"Yes Rashid?"

"You have a visitor. May I present Miss Serena Tsukino?" Trowa's eyes went wide, and he began coughing hard. Catherine worriedly began to pat his back, in case he was choking. Finally he caught himself and managed to control his coughing fit. Rashid stepped aside, and the goofy grins that had once played across the features of everyone at the table dissipated instantly.

Before them stood the shortest, frumpiest woman they had ever seen. She slouched over, making herself even shorter than she already was. Upon her feet were ripped up and brown sneakers that had obviously once been white, and a pair of dirty, ripped jeans that was three sizes too big was belted around her waist. A gray turtleneck that was four times to large hid any curves the woman might have had at one time, and her blonde hair was in disarray as it escaped from the tight knot she had pulled it into at the base of her neck. Thick tortoiseshell glasses rested on her delicate nose, hiding her seemingly gray eyes. The woman wore no makeup, no jewelry, and an expression of utter fear lay embedded in her face. 

"You're Serena Tsukino?" Trowa choked out, quite shocked beyond belief. Not what he had been expecting, not in the least.

"You know her Trowa?" Quatre asked as Catherine smacked his arm.

"Be nicer!" She whispered.

"Well, last night I was looking for historians, and I emailed three or four different people…"

"One of which was this woman?" Wufei finished in disgust.

"She's the world's leading expert in Decades research." Trowa whispered.

"What's a decade?" Duo asked dumbly. Hilde took her turn and smacked him.

"Ten years you braided idiot!" She scolded.

"I know that! I meant what is Decades research?"

"She's an expert at everything from the 1920's through to the 1990's. Top in her field four years running, nominated for three Nobel prizes. She's the best there is…"

"And now she's here." Sally smiled. Then she stood. "Please forgive our rude manners. Allow me to introduce us. My name is Sally Po."

"The Preventer Water?" The historian whispered. 

"That's right. I see my reputation precedes me. Beside me is my partner, Wufei Chang."

"Preventer Dragon."

"And next to him, with the braid, is Duo Maxwell."

"Preventer Scythe."

"Then his girlfriend, Hilde Shebeiker. On the other side of the table across from Hilde is Dorothy Catalonia."

"Duke Dermail's granddaughter."

"And beside her is her boyfriend, Quatre Winner, the owner of this mansion."

"And the resource satellites in space."

"Trowa Barton, the man who emailed you last night, is next."

"Preventer Jester."

"And beside Trowa is Catherine, his girlfriend. But it seems that you've heard of most of us."

"I find it important to keep up on current events as well as historical events… history does have a tendency to repeat itself." The disheveled blonde whispered.

"Hmm. A woman that has sense. Not many do." Wufei glared pompously. She stepped back.

"Don't mind him Serena, he's a chauvinist, always has and always will be. There's no changing his mind. You'll just have to put up with it, and after a while you get used to it."

"Woman! Do not mock me!"

"Me? Mock? Never. I merely jest."

"That is Trowa's department, you stay with what you're good at." Wufei grumbled.

"Of course dear."

"Miss Tsukino, won't you join us? We were about to eat breakfast." Quatre smiled. Dorothy next to him gave her a smile as well.

"Yes, join us. We would love to hear your thoughts on Trowa's mail. I'm sure it must have been slightly startling."

"I'm not hungry thanks. Time machine? It's real then?"

"Real." A dark voice resounded throughout the room. "It is not a matter of reality. It is a matter of operation." From the shadows, a dark figure glided into the light. Momentary shock hit the occupants of the room and washed over them like a wave upon a beach, emptying them of everything, then placing it back as quickly as it had been stolen.

"Hiiro?" Quatre asked. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough."

"Serena," Quatre tried to smile at the tiny woman, who was cowering in the far corner of the room. "May I introduce Hiiro Yui, the final member of our team? He is the one who will be traveling back in time."

"Preventer Zero? H, h, him?" The blonde stuttered.

"Yes, Hiiro is the only one of us brave enough to do something so crazy." Duo opened his loud mouth, then instantly regretted it as he was smacked by Hilde and Wufei, and glared at by everyone else.

"Don't listen to Duo. He doesn't know what he's saying half the time." Catherine offered. Then she stood and made her way to Serena. "Come on then, Hiiro won't bite."

"Hard." Duo muttered.

"He won't bite at _all_." Catherine emphasized. "Come eat a pancake, it'll make you feel better."

"Historian." Hiiro clipped, breaking Catherine's soothing care. Serena, still shaking in fear, only nodded in acknowledgement. "Are you willing to die to test this machine?" Such a simple question with so many shades, moral, ethical, and personal.

"I don't know."

"I leave at noon. Know by then." As Hiiro stalked out of the room, the chilled ambiance left with him. Everyone visibly relaxed, and there were even a few smiles. The only one who never changed was the historian, Serena Tsukino.

"Honestly!" Dorothy stood and slammed her fist on the table. "What _is_ that man's problem! He is so rude to all of us! One day he is going to learn that being rude will not get him everything he wants, and when he does, I want to be there. I want to be there to laugh in his face! He needs a good kick in the pants! Maybe it'll wake him up from the nightmare he constantly lives in!" It was obvious to everyone around the table that Dorothy was furious with Hiiro. He'd finally gone too far.

"Dorothy, come on. Hiiro will be Hiiro. He isn't rude, just… disturbed. Let him alone." Quatre soothed her.

"One of these days…" Dorothy muttered. But she did seem to cool down, and even allowed Quatre to pull her back to sitting.

"Well, now that we've had our Hiiro epiphany of the day, Serena, why don't we tell you exactly what's going on?"

The petrified girl blinked, roaming her eyes from each person until they finally landed on the floor in front of her feet. "All right." *

~~~ Lots of talking behind Hiiro's back in this chapter. I had writing it, even if it is kind of dull. But don't worry! Next chapter Sere gets her two cents in… that should be most interesting! Much love, Vixen ~~~


	4. Shaky Risks

Chapter Four: Shaky Risks

* Slowly she flickered her eyes up and around. These, these, animals, these humans, these _people_… they were so loud! And large! Loud and large! This was why she generally avoided people and all other forms of life, whether it be mineral, plant, or animal. This was why she hid behind her books and papers, behind the desks and computers. Learning about humans was so much easier than having to deal with them. So why was she here again?

Because they had a time machine! Her mind snorted and her conscience told her to leave, run now, while she had the chance. To flee before they began laughing at her for being foolish enough to believe their hoax. She was just waiting for them to start sniggering about how there was no time machine, never had been, and never would be. And then she would turn tail and hide, just as she always did.

"Serena?" Catherine waved a hand in front of her face, and Serena instantly shied back, almost to the point of falling off the char she had so delicately perched herself upon. "Sorry if I scared you, you just seemed a little out of it."

"I'm here." Her quiet reply cut through the air like a dull knife.

"Good. Did you by chance hear what we were saying about the machine?"

"Then it really exists, it isn't a joke?" Serena blinked her eyes wide, and due to their already large size, they grew huge in her thick glasses. Both Duo and Wufei snickered, and backed away shuddering.

"Of course not. We're Preventers woman, not comedians."

"Speak for yourself Wu-man. I'd much rather be known as a comedian. I am, after all, the comic relief of the Preventers."

"No, you're the big joke of the Preventers. There's a big difference. And for further reference, I've already warned you, you braided idiot, my name is not Wu-man, it's Wufei!"

"The point these two numbskulls were trying to make is that the time machine really does exist. You met, well, all right. You didn't exactly _meet_ Hiiro, but you more or less know who he is. Anyway, Hiiro is the one who convinced Quatre that he should build the machine. So we all put our heads together and well, the final result is a time machine. Our basic problems lie in two things. One, we don't know what the machine will do when it's turned on. We know in theory it should work, but after we've tested it on inanimate objects, we still have no idea of the effect upon humans, which is our second problem."

"So in short, we don't know if it will work, and if it does, we still don't know what it'll do to you when it's finished sending you through time." Dorothy clarified. Serena nodded. 

"Serena, why don't you tell us a little about yourself? We'd love to know who we're trusting with this information. Trowa didn't even mention you until you walked through the door." Hilde prompted the mousy blonde.

"Okay." Serena gulped. "I'm seventeen, blonde, gray eyes, four eleven, and weigh just over a hundred pounds. Any thing else?" Serena hunched her back over, trying to disappear. Humans frightened her. She wanted to be lost, to draw into herself and not have to share anything about herself with them. She did not like these animals.

For a moment the entire dining hall was silent, the pilots and women soaking in the information they had just learned. Or rather, the information that they had already known. It seemed laughable. It seemed hilarious. It seemed…

"My God, you're like the female version of Hiiro!" Duo cracked up. Wufei fell next, snorting with laughter. Then Hilde fell into giggles with Catherine and Dorothy. Quatre let a light grin grace his golden visage, and Trowa, much amused, took another look at the dumpy woman that stood before them. "She's the same withdrawn, quiet, perfect person in a different body!"

Serena sat in her chair on the very edge, quite unable to move. They were making fun of her! Laughing at her as if she were a dying fawn and they were hyenas ready to move in for the kill. Those nasty vultures! Picking her bones clean and leaving nothing but fossils. And the most depressing through of all—her bones would never been dug up by any historian, any archeologist, because no one would ever miss her. Quickly Serena stood and grabbed the large, dirty canvas bag she had brought with her and made quickly for the door. 

"Wait." Trowa stood in her way. She hadn't even seen him move! "Duo has a big mouth, and Wufei's just as bad. Give them another chance."

"I want to go home now." Serena bit back tears and kept her eyes trained on Trowa's feet.

"What about the time machine? You had a good reason to come on such short notice, why not at least look at the reason?"

"Home." She whispered.

"Please. We need someone to go with Hiiro. We can't let him go alone. Please."

"Home."

"Please?" Trowa's voice was the softest, most pitiful voice she had ever heard on a man. Serena looked away from his feet and towards the grandfather clock against the wall. Eleven forty-five.

"I want to go home." Trowa dropped his head. "But I'll look at the machine first." Serena finally conceded. After all, if they really had accomplished the feat, she should be able to see history in the making!

"Thank you!" It was Quatre, this time, who spoke. He smiled at her and Serena could feel her cheeks growing hot. Hoping to hide her embarrassment, she turned away and held her head low.

"We only have fifteen minutes, then Hiiro's going to leave on his own!" Hilde suddenly shot up. "Look here Serena. We just can't let Hiiro go alone, but there's no stopping him from going. You don't have the time to look at the machine and then decide. You have to do it here and now. Will you go, or won't you?"

"I don't know." Serena shook her head. 

"Well, look here. You have to know. But just remember, this trip? It's only hypothetical. Like Hiiro said, you have to be willing to die. If something goes wrong? The machine doesn't work? Blows up? Or you get stuck in a black hole? Or goodness knows what else could happen… you need to know that if you say yes, you are taking a risk with all of those possibilities." Dorothy pointed out.

"Those are risks?" Serena whispered, more to herself then to anybody else. Then she, for the first time, looked up at the people in the room. "You consider death a risk?" She let the air hang heavy for a moment longer, and then she nodded. "I'm going. There are worse things than death in every moment of life—I have no fear of that risk." Then, as quickly as she had gathered her courage and spoken up, she lost it and slumped back down. Once more she became a tiny, mousy woman who seemed as capable of standing up for herself as a piece of paper surviving a fire. 

"Wow. Well, at least she'll be able to put up with the Perfect Soldier. Or he'll be able to put up with her, or something. They're two peas in a pod: the same tempers, ideals, personalities, it's a match made in heaven." Hilde nodded, quite sure about her assessment of the situation.

"Look, we only have seven minutes and counting before Hiiro leaves, we should get to the hanger and get Serena familiar with the equipment." Quatre suggested. Then Wufei shook his head.

"We can't. I just realized what a major breech of security it would be to let her into those hangers. Quatre, do you know what's right beside that machine? I'll give you a hint: it's big, mobile, and to all public knowledge, destroyed. Letting her in is a no- go."

"Wufei, she's going to the 1950's. It won't matter when she gets there."

"No."

"Wufei, you know I love you." Sally smiled sweetly at him. Then she glared hard. "Stuff it. Let's go!" She led the march out of the dining room and towards the hanger. Wufei was grumbling, but he too eventually conceded and joined the procession. 

Finally they reached the hanger, and Serena looked up in awe. Before her stood five of the most high tech machines she had ever seen. They were colorfully and artfully painted and detailed, and they seemed to shine with an unnatural gleam for dead metal. These were the…

"The Gundams?" She whispered. "But they were…"

"Destroyed when the public was watching." Hiiro melted out of the blackened shadows. "You don't see anything in this hanger except the time machine, correct?"

"Correct." Serena whispered, barely able to stand her knees were knocking so hard. And she was time traveling with him? How would she survive? He was so very different from the average human she had met in this household. He only spoke when necessary, he was brutally honest, and he didn't seem to want her to do anything. In fact, he practically ignored her constantly—Serena felt more settled than ever knowing he didn't give a damn about who or what she was, as long as she left him alone. But all humans had to have a catch. They always had a catch. 

"Serena, do you and Hiiro need to do anything to prepare for the fifties?" Quatre asked concerned. Serena flickered her eyes at Hiiro. He wore blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket from the Eve Wars.

"He'll be fine." She told them meekly. "I'll change when we get there."

"Currency?" Hiiro clipped.

"I have some I've brought from the museum I worked at." Serena flushed. It felt as if she had stolen the money, though it had been cleared with the museum first.

"Fine." Hiiro nodded. Then he pulled a gun from his shoulder holsters and checked the clip of bullets. When he was satisfied, he carelessly flung the handgun back into the holster, and Serena gulped. A gun! He was nuts! "Let's go." He head flung up.

"Now?" She squeaked. He nodded, and grabbed her shirt from behind. Effortlessly Hiiro picked her up off the ground and placed her on the platform that the time machine had been built around. Then he grabbed a black bag and hoisted himself up as well.

"Now." He glared.

"Alright Hiiro, are you sure you're ready for this?" Quatre narrowed his eyes in concern.

"Set the clock." He ordered. Serena could feel the platform shake from the very vibrations that his dark voice made. He was very intimidating, and she wanted nothing to do with him. What had she been thinking? She couldn't handle this! This was not for her!

"Okay. Here goes nothing, good luck!" Quatre called out. Just as Serena moved to jump off the platform, the room suddenly spun and her vision swam.

She was thrown off balance, and then began to be pulled out off the platform by sheer force of velocity. Just as Serena's last grasp of her balance was lost to the heavy gravity pull, She felt a large icy hand grab her arm and pull her back. Hiiro was holding on to a pole that had been placed in the center of the platform. 

"Hold on." Hiiro's faint voice barely echoed in her ears as the force reverberated through her very cells. Her stomach sloshed, and Serena could literally feel her face become green with motion sickness. Her hair had come out f it's low knot and was whipping her in her face, blocking any and all vision that might have been possibly if the spinning would stop. Serena could hardly breathe, she felt as though her chest had been compressed by such a force that she could no longer make the effort to fill her lungs with air to breathe. And then it stopped.

Everything was still. Everything was silent. Serena opened her tightly shut eyes and saw stars. White, red, green, and purple splotches invaded her vision, and the room around her was still spinning. To her knees she fell, and over the side of the platform she leaned, just as her stomach lost everything that had been inside.

As she threw-up, two large, cold hands grasped her head and held it steady, pulling her hair out of the way and letting her finish without interrupting. When Serena finally found herself and remembered her fear, she quickly regained her self-reliant attitude and pulled away, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Slowly, hesitantly, Serena looked up at Hiiro, who was no longer looking at her, but surveying their surroundings. He wasn't saying anything. He wasn't laughing, or disgusted, he wasn't even fazed! So Serena stood up, pulled her hair back, re-knotted it, and grabbed her bag from Hiiro's hold.

"The fifties." He very carefully articulated. 

"The fifties." Serena echoed. *

~~~Look! I've added! I'm sorry this is taking me so long, but writer's block can be very evil. On another note, I had a quick poll for you guys: How many of you would respond to a fanfic challenge if I put it out? I'd love to have a contest, but I'm not going to if I can't get enough response. Let me know in a review! Much love and thanks for your patience, Vixen~~~


	5. War Planes

Chapter Five: War Planes

*The two companions eyed their surroundings with the highest speculation. Serena rubbed her eyes and blinked, desperately trying to convince herself that the machine had indeed transported them back into the 1950's. "This can't be real." She whispered to herself.

Hiiro, on the other hand, looked around without allowing his facial expression to change. The fifties. Inwardly he cheered. After so long, after waiting for so long, he was finally in the fifties. Had that been real? He had believed in Quatre and the others to build a sound machine, but even the most trusted technology is only applicable to realistic theories—and the black hole theory was not considered to rank highly in the scientific world. Nonetheless, they had truly defied the odds and traveled time.

As they looked around, all they could see for miles was lush greenery; forest and fields lay in abundance. Small, chilling drops of water splashed down upon their heads, dampening their hair and clothing instantly. In the distance they could hear what sounded to be rounds and rounds of thunder going off instantly.

"What is our current location?" Hiiro glared at the mousy woman who had some with him. He hadn't really needed an escort—she was going to be a nuisance to take care of—but he had also promised his comrades that if they found someone he would take them, and he always upheld his word of honor. For some reason, Hiiro had a feeling of guilt creep into his gut. He had known when he had given his comrades the time constraint it would be nearly impossible for them to find another person to go with him, and even when they had, he hadn't accepted it right away, as he should have. 

And he had to give the woman credit. As plain and weak as she may be, she had still chosen to brave possible death in the trial of the time machine. Well, she would have to learn to care for herself. He wasn't going to spend all of his time waiting for her or taking care of her. This was his time, and no one was going to slow him down now.

"Our current location?" Serena breathed. "What?"

"Where are we?" Hiiro glared in annoyance. She was already becoming a problem.

Serena stared blankly at him. What did he want? Was he going to just glare at her all day? She hated it when people looked at her like that! Being put in the spotlight was _not_ her forte. Perhaps if she asked him to turn around, so she could answer without him watching… or better still, she could write the answer and hand it to him! No. She had a strange feeling that he would most definitely not appreciate her requests. Clearing her throat, Serena gather the only iota of courage she had within her stone frozen heart and breathed in deeply. When she exhaled, she began.

"The Cinq Kingdom, where we were, was once part of the country known as France. It's safe to assume we're standing in the exact same place as when we left, just in a time before the house was constructed."

"Understood." Hiiro nodded. All right. According to Quatre's floor plans, that meant the ocean would be a hundred or so miles in front of them, and whatever had been constructed of the Cinq Kingdom capital city would be to their left only fifty miles in the distance.

"Preventer Zero?" Serena blankly whispered.

"What?" Hiiro glared. He wanted time to think!

"Planes." She gasped.

"Explain." Hiiro blinked. Now what was she going on about?

"Above us, those planes!" Serena pointed meekly with one hand and pushed her thick glasses, which had been slipping down to the tip of her nose, up with the other. In the distance flew eight planes in V formation, all in the classic gray color.

"Fighter planes." Hiiro muttered. His prussian blue eyes narrowed to dark slits, and he suddenly grabbed Serena's arm. "Get into the brush, now!" He barked. Half throwing her, half pushing her, Hiiro flung Serena into tall shrubs that would provide decent cover for them both. Then he joined her. Crawling in on his belly, he then flipped onto his back and watched as the planes flew over the gray and black sky through the rainy weather.

"Those are American planes." Serena whispered. "American planes are very different from any other planes that are flying in the air at the moment—they're B-52's, bombers."

"What are Americans doing in France with war planes? The fifties are supposed to be relatively peaceful."

"On the contrary." Serena's voice had suddenly grown a backbone. As long as she stuck with her facts, buried her head in her history, she felt as if she were invincible. She couldn't be touched. "The Cold War between Russia and the United States was a major conflict, even if it wasn't fought openly. The fifties were not perfect."

"Hnn." Hiiro knew that. He did. "France was not part of that war."

"Yes, actually…"

"I meant, America didn't have war planes in France during the fifties." Hiiro clarified, before the historian could correct him again. He hated being told he was wrong.

"You're right, it's very—" Serena's quiet agreement was cut short by loud, rapid, and successive cracks and discharges above them. Hiiro caught five planes out of the corner of his eye of a different make and color. 

"Historian!" He curtly addressed Serena, trying to get her attention. "Which country's planes are those?"

"Those are…" Serena had to pause. Quickly she took her glasses off and rubbed them in her shirt, trying to wipe away the drops of water that had beaded up upon them. Once again placing them on the bridge of her nose, she looked up and gasped. "German. German fighter planes. Faster and smaller than those B-52's. But by the fifties Germany didn't have any more planes. They were destroyed after the war, the Allied forces made sure of it. This is wrong…"

"Duo." Hiiro growled. Pounding his hand into the muddy ground, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, hoping that when he opened them he would be in a dream. When he flicked them back open, he watched as one of the B-52's was hit in the wing. A large burst of yellow and orange, and then black smoke rose through the rain as the plane spiraled downwards. Shutting his eyes, Hiiro shook his head. This was no dream.

"Duo?" Serena gasped meekly. "Preventer Scythe?"

"Preventer Scythe," Hiiro paused, trying to withhold his rage, "was responsible for setting the time gage. The time input was designed to be 1954."

"He entered it wrong." Serena finished with a death whispered. "He typed in 1944 by mistake. We're in the forties, in the middle of World War II." Hiiro remained still, trying to come to terms with the gravity of Duo's mistake. He was going to cut off that braided idiot's tongue, and then his braid. He was going to use Chinese water torture on him. He was going to murder him. 

The couple watched from under the bushes in awe as the planes finally finished duking it out in mid-air. Three of the B-52's had gone down, while the Germans had managed to escape without a single casualty. Once the planes were out of sight, Serena shot up. Hiiro watched her with interest—this was the most active he had seen her since he had met the woman.

"We need to move, now." Serena hissed. "We're in occupied territory. Germans will be here within a few hours looking for those planes to make sure there were no survivors."

"We can't afford to be caught." Hiiro agreed instantly. Well, at least she was helpful enough to know when danger was about. "Which way to Allied territory?"

"It isn't that simple." Serena shook her head, pushing her glasses up and grabbing her canvas bag. "If it's forty-four, and it's February, there aren't any Allied troops here in France as of yet. They aren't here until June."

"Move out." Hiiro grunted. He didn't care about the dates. He knew Germans would be swarming around this place soon enough, and that was enough to tell his instinct to get moving. Out of one war and into another. The irony made him want to throw up.

Serena heard the anger and frustration in his voice and jumped. She didn't like this man! He was too volatile. Even though he didn't pay her too much attention, ever time he did was enough to last for hours on end. His voice had no warmth—in was completely dry and cold. His eyes were harsh, unforgiving, and all seeing, and his mind was dead set in his way and his way alone. Why had she come? Now she was stuck in the middle of a war!

"What about the French. Aren't they on the Allies' side?" Hiiro asked sharply as they trekked through the dense foliage.

"Occupied. The closest American troops are in England, and there should be some in Italy by now…"

"The French don't have any pockets of resistance?" Hiiro narrowed his eyes. This was looking worse and worse. They needed to find a place to hole out until he could decide what further action to take.

"They do. In the south there are a few, but they're constantly under bombing raids and patrol." Hiiro snorted. At any rate, he'd been in worse situations. Suddenly he stopped. Serena, who had been walking behind him going over her World War II facts, didn't see him stop and effectively ran into him from behind. Hiiro flinched, but stayed as still as he could, listening carefully.

"What?" Serena whispered, wanting to sink into the ground and die. She didn't want to be here! German soldiers were known for their brutality!

"Stay here." He motioned for her to climb underneath the bushes nearby, then reached into his waistband for his gun. Fingering the cold, wet metal, he immediately felt more comfortable. This was what he had been trained for. A sense of home washed over him, and he smirked. Seek and destroy was the title of this mission. 

Carefully he waded through brush and trees, trying to make as little noise as possible to give himself the element of surprise on the enemy. Soon his nose could smell more than the wet smell of dirt; he could smell jet fuel and smoke from a fire. Slowly he crept up and stopped behind a large tree. Crouching close to the ground, he glinted around the trunk and managed to spy two men standing beside one of the B-52's. Both donned greenish camouflage uniforms, and both were trying to collect guns that lay on the ground near the plane.

"We have to get out of here Jim!" One hissed. English Hiiro recognized. 

"Kerry, grab that last gun and let's get going before the plane either blows, or those damned Nazis come for us." The men grinned despite their desperate situation, and Hiiro watched them set off. A glint out of the corner of his eye alerted him to more people coming out of the woods towards the plane—but this time he knew they were not Allies. If the men in the green camouflage were American, then these men in the gray with red armbands were not. 

"Freeze!" Hiiro heard them shouting in German. The two Americans dove for cover just as the Germans opened fire on them. After four successive rounds of shot and retaliation fire, Hiiro knew this was getting them nowhere fast. The Germans outnumbered the two Americans with a ratio of three to one, and Hiiro knew that the guns the Americans had collected had not had enough extra ammunition to continuously fire forever. Quickly he slipped in behind the six Germans and made small work of the two who had been closest to him. 

As he made for the third, the man noticed and began yelling to his comrades. Hiiro inwardly cursed, but grunted outwardly and easily dealt with the remaining four. As he stood from his finishing move, the two Americans stepped out from the trees and, holding their guns cocked and aimed at him, addressed him.

"Hey! Who are you?" *

~~~Have I surprised you? I hope so! Please review, it would mean the world to me! Much love, Vixen~~~


	6. American GI's

Chapter Six: American GI's

* Hiiro looked at the men, trying to decide whether or not it would be a security risk to give them his real name. "Hiiro Yui."

"Yui? Never heard the name before." One of the Americans mussed. "Why'd you help us?" Hiiro didn't answer. In all honesty, he didn't very well know why he had helped them. He should have let them die, like all the other pathetic soldiers out there who were careless enough to get themselves shot down in enemy territory. Maybe that was why, because he had felt sorry for them. Who really knew?

"Buddy, we're talking to you! Are you awake? Do you understand English?" Hiiro glared. 

"Yes." He acknowledged. "Put your guns away and get out of here." Hiiro advised darkly. "The plane's going to go any moment." He watched the two Americans size him up.

"You're a Jap!" One accused. Hiiro narrowed his eyes to slits and glared hard at the man.

"And you're American. I fail to see your point. Get lost." With that, he turned his back to the two armed men and began walking back into the forest towards where he had left that historian. 

"Are you stupid or something pal? Don't you know not to turn your back to men with guns pointed at you?" The two Americans dropped their guard and ran to catch up with Hiiro as he walked. Hiiro rolled his eyes and ignored them. Fine. They could follow if they wanted. How the hell did he get himself into these situations? Humans were such an annoying and mindless race. He wondered how they had even survived long enough to evolve into creatures with the ability to use tools and opposable thumbs. The two men kept up their chattering, and finally Hiiro had had enough. 

"Shut up." He stopped in mid pace. "The area is still being patrolled. Or did you want to be shot?" Instantly the two soldiers who had tagged along closed their mouths and stopped hassling him. Unfortunately, they were not deterred from following him. 

A moment later and Hiiro stopped again. This looked like the place. "Historian." He curtly called out, hoping she would hear him. "Come out."

Serena, who had been laying low in the brush, had heard gunshot after gunshot echoing through the forest. She had assumed Hiiro had found the Germans whom had been searching for the planes, and had curled herself into a small ball on the dirty, muddy ground, hoping he would return for her. What if he didn't? She hadn't wanted to think about being stuck alone, in France, during German occupation. Then, out of nowhere, came Hiiro's deep voice yelling for her. Never had she been gladder to see another human being.

"Preventer Zero?" She sat up timidly, shuddering and shaking. It was him! And… he was with two American soldiers?

"Come on." Hiiro nodded. He could see her body trembling and cursed himself for bringing her along. A war was not the place for her, she didn't have the constitution or nerves to deal with the stressful, violent, and dangerous situations that soldiers were often thrown into. In fact, Hiiro was incredibly disappointed in himself to find that he actually held pity for the frumpy woman whom he had dragged along.

"A woman!" The two men gaped. Serena flushed red and hid her head away from view.

"What's she doing out here? She French?" One of the Americans asked. Serena didn't know how to respond, and she desperately groped for a way to run away without answering their questions. Fortunately, Hiiro found a way to do it for her.

"No questions. Don't talk to her." He growled. The two American men looked momentarily startled, and then grinned more idiotically than before. It was obvious that now they were even more interested than they had been.

"So where're we headed anyway?" One of the GI's finally asked. 

"Away." Hiiro grunted. He wasn't particularly sure himself. If they went south, they could probably find a French village willing to house them, or at least Serena. However, if they went north, they could cross the channel and stay in England until the war ended. But Hiiro had to admit, he didn't know enough about the details of the war to make a decision as of yet. 

Serena fully supported Hiiro in his idea to get 'away'. No matter where they went, they had to live until they got there, and getting away would be the first step towards that goal. Already, though, she was tired. They had been hiking through the dense foliage all day, or at least, since noon, and had not yet paused once. She was not used to the physical strain that was being placed upon her, and if she didn't stop soon, she felt like she might collapse.

"Hey, Yui, can we take a break? We've been hiking for nearly four hours. It's nearly six, and it gets dark early around here. Not to mention we're starved." One of the Americans stopped. The other one stopped and stood next to him, nodding in agreement.

"Those Nazis can't get to us now, we've gone far enough. I say we break and set up camp before it's too dark to see. No fires you know, otherwise we'll be spotted no problem."

"Hnn." Hiiro grunted. Weak men. These soldiers should know that they could never get too far away when the enemy was after them. Just as he was about to tell the Americans they could stay and he and the woman would keep going, he felt a tiny tap on his shoulder. Flicking his eyes behind him, he saw the homely woman with her head bowed down, eyes glued to her shoes.

"Please?" She asked. He barely heard the plea, but it did reach his ear, and that pity he had felt earlier for her grew. She hadn't spoken one word since he had gotten back—not to the GI's, not to him, not to anyone. No complaints, no annoying comments, nothing.

"Fine." He nodded curtly. 

"Great!" The two other men instantly dropped their packs and sat on the ground, using them as back rests. Hiiro sat down on a fallen log, and Serena joined him, sitting with a great deal of space between them both.

"Anyone else starved? What I wouldn't do for some of my mom's old fried chicken. Man that stuff was great. 'Member those good old home cooked meals Jim?"

"Sure do. My momma used to make me those baked and stuffed potatoes… I could use of them. Sour cream, cheddar cheese, chives, butter and a little bit salt…"

"Sounds great." The two men chuckled a bit, and one turned to Hiiro. "Didn't your mom ever fix you anything like that?"

"Hnn." Hiiro grunted. Idiots. They'd only make themselves hungrier thinking about it, he wasn't going to fall into that trap.

"Okay, fine. What about you, baby doll?" The men teased Serena. "Your momma ever cook you anything good?"

"No." Serena whispered, blushing. She wanted to scream for them to leave her alone, but knew it wouldn't do any good. 

"You know, I don't think we ever properly got to introduce ourselves." The men grinned. "What's your name doll?" 

"Didn't I say don't talk to her?" Hiiro grunted. The men glared.

"You can't stop her from talking." One pointed out. 

"She doesn't want to talk to you." Hiiro indicated with an eye roll. Then he shut his eyes and crossed his arms. The two GI's looked at him for a moment longer, then shifted their attention to Serena.

"That true doll face? You don't want to talk to us?" They grinned doggishly. Serena looked up briefly at them, and nodded, afraid to speak.

"Alright then. Just so you know, though? My name's Kerry, and this is Jim." Serena nodded once again, and took a good look at the men to make sure she knew which was which.

Kerry was a taller, thinner man with a buzzed head of blonde fuzz. Pale, white skin made his watery blue eyes and faint freckles more pronounced, and his mouth was turned into an interesting smirk. He wore the camouflage uniform same as his comrade, but his flak jacket was left open. Jim, on the other hand, was a little shorter and not as gangly. He had the same buzzed hair cut, but his short hair was a little longer, and decisively darker. He also wore a stubbly beard of brown hair, and his eyes were a light hazel. 

"Do we get a name from you?" Jim asked, lips curled into a small smile. Serena just looked down and towards Hiiro, hoping he'd say something once more. He did not make any move to, so she was forced to speak.

"Serena."

"One word answers aren't much help." The two men laughed again, but Serena remained silent. She was hungry and cold and didn't want to talk. What she wanted was a nice, warm meal, a warm bed, and a god history book to curl up with, maybe one about something random, like the history of pizza… oh, she wanted pizza! No, she wouldn't think about food; that would only exacerbate the situation.

Hiiro had spent the last few minutes thinking. He couldn't very well ask Serena about the history of the war with the two GI's present, but he needed to know which way they should begin to head. Not to mention he would have to stop calling her historian and begin to use her name so the two didn't suspect anything.

How could those two be hitting on her? He felt pity for her, but more so for the men. That historian was a self-proclaimed old maid in her youth, a mousy, homily, frumpy woman who was just not attractive. Even he had noticed her messy appearance—it was hard to miss it was so bad. And here these two men were trying to impress her and flatter her. Hiiro shook his head. He knew it must have been a while since they had seen any other women, but he had never had that problem. Hiiro was beginning to wonder how the Allies could have ever triumphed with such idiots working for them.

His empty stomach groaned softly, and Hiiro knew it was time he broke out the rations. He hadn't expected to need them, but years of preparing for missions had trained him to prepare for anything no matter what was expected. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out one bar. Looking at it, his stomach groaned again—only this time, it wasn't out of hunger. He couldn't eat and not give the others anything. Reaching back into the bag, he pulled out three more bars of compacted nutrients and tossed them to the GI's.

"Hey, what're these?"

"Food?"

"Eat." Hiiro grunted. Then he passed one to Serena, who nodded a silent thanks, and then ripped the wrapper open and took a bite. She was surprised to find that the bar tasted pretty good, almost like granola. She had the fleeting urge to ask Hiiro why he had packed the bars to begin with if he had thought they were going to the fifties, but dropped it. 

"So do we have any idea where we are?" Jim asked as he bit into his bar. Hiiro stared into the distance over his shoulder.

"His—Serena?" Hiiro asked. The mousy blonde looked up with large, fear-filled eyes. She wished his voice wasn't quite so dark and murderous when he spoke to her.

"We're a lot closer to the northern coast than the southern one." 

"How do you know that?" Kerry asked her. She looked down at her feet.

"Answer." Hiiro nodded. 

"B-52's can only carry so much fuel. It wouldn't be worth it to risk flying them too south into France of all places. If the B-52's were sent here, it means we're more northern and it isn't a big waste of fuel."

"She's right. The question is, how does she know about our plane?" Jim questioned.

"Brother was in the army." Hiiro answered instantly. Serena nodded gently. She understood what Hiiro wanted. 

"So we're going to head…?"

"We," Hiiro emphasized only himself and Serena, "head north until the channel." Hiiro answered. "You do as you please."

"We'll head with you, if it's all the same. We'd rather get back, you'll understand. Our comrades will want to see us soon."

"We're not slowing for you." Hiiro warned darkly settling in. It was already getting dark. "Serena, come here." He ordered. The tiny woman stood and made her way over the Hiiro. "Sit down and get comfortable. You're next to me in case of a night raid." Serena gulped, but nodded. Hiiro saw that she was shaking again. Once he was sure she was comfortable, he settled down beside her, gun out and ready.

"Serena, anything else you think I should know?" Hiiro asked her underneath his breath. 

"No. The channel should only be a sixty or so miles away. That isn't bad."

"We'll be there in three to four days." Hiiro nodded. "We can catch a boat across?"

"If we're lucky." Serena nodded. 

"Good. Sleep." Hiiro finally ordered. Serena nodded, unable to speak at his tone. She settled in and closed her eyes. Sleep did not come for hours, but when it finally did come, Serena slipped into the abyss of emptiness. She was cold, hungry, and in the middle of a war, not to mention trapped in close quarters with a man who scared the hell out of her. Oh yes, there were a great deal worse things than dying every moment of living. *


	7. Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter Seven: Behind Enemy Lines

*Their tiny group of four had been traveling together for just over forty-eight hours, and already it seemed as if it had been years. Both Serena and Hiiro had managed to keep their contact, both with their other two companions and with each other, to a bare minimum. Unfortunately, the Americans were a lot louder and more rambunctious than either of them had previously bargained for. Still, they had been making good time through the backcountry of northern France—only having to stop once to prevent an encounter with German patrol troops.

All in all, Serena was still in a state of shock and disbelief. Mostly it was over the fact that she couldn't make up her mind about how to feel about their situation. On the one hand, she knew in her mind that she should feel excited, thrilled, and privileged. It was not every day that some one received the gift of traveling time. In fact, she knew with all her mind that she should be appreciating every step she took, that she should be taking time to savor every glance she had at the Americans, every time she heard planes she should be racing to see them instead of ducking and hiding. She knew it. 

But her heart… her heart told her she was afraid, that this was not good. Some how it would end up with them getting captured by German Nazi forces, being tortured, or killed, or worse, being thrown into a death camp… And even if it didn't, she was still being forced to suffer with the company of people! She could be at home, safe and sound without any worries, head buried deep in a book right now if she hadn't let her curiosity get the better of her and coming to see the time machine. But she had, and now she was forced to talk, communicate, and, most unusual of all, navigate their tactical movements as a group. What she wouldn't give to be alone, safe from these people and from their judgmental gazes of her and all that she did. Shaking her head numbly, she continued walking on.

Hiiro took a split second to glance back at the three people he was leading through the countryside. The two Americans had been doing a fair job keeping up, but he had expected as much. If they had been given ranking in the army, then it at least meant they had undergone and passed certain physical examinations that said they were capable of surviving in any situation, including one like their own current circumstances. 

He was more surprised at the historian. It had been obvious to him from day one that she had been reluctant to come, and quite frankly, he thought she had made a bad decision in coming. If she had held any hesitation about throwing herself into the past fully; than she didn't belong on the experimental journey in the first place. Still, she was here, and most surprising of all, she wasn't complaining. How many women, no. How many people in general had he come into contact with that hadn't complained, no matter the situation they had been thrown into? Maybe he could count his comrades from the war, and maybe he could count their girlfriends, but no one else had ever come even close. And still that dumpy little old maid had managed to trek through woods, hide from armed forces, stint on food and water, and do what he ordered without so much as a groan. Very unusual. But then, he reflected, their circumstances were very unusual. Besides, she had been more than helpful on occasion when he needed advice on what moves to make tactically speaking. 

In fact, Hiiro was quite amazed that she could remember exactly what date the Germans had been in a certain village, or what dates they had been rumored to have been in a certain area. She had alerted him to possible German action three times already, and had been their saving grace in that she had given them time enough to hide before the Germans had arrived. All in all, she wasn't bad to have around. Not to mention, she was quiet. The opposite of Duo…

"Hey, it's nearly noon. Can we stop and take a lunch break Iceman?" One of the Americans piped up. Hiiro looked back to seem Jim had stopped and was taking off the small pack he had been carrying. 

More than anything he wanted to glare and say: "No! And don't call me that!" like Wufei did when Duo bothered him. But Hiiro was above that. Besides, he had pushed them harder this morning than he had yesterday, and he didn't want to tire them so much incase of an attack or ambush. He needed them alert.

"Hnn." Serena looked up when Hiiro grunted and sighed in relief silently. Her feet were killing her, but she would never say anything to anyone about it. Instantly she dropped her canvas bag and sat on the pine needles and dirt, hoping that she wouldn't spot any spiders or ants, or else she would never want to sit again.

"So where are we headed again? Isn't north a little vague?" Kerry asked as he stole a sip of water from a canteen Jim had been taking swigs of water from.

"No." Hiiro grunted. In all honesty he wasn't sure what was north that they could be headed to, but he wasn't about to admit that weakness to the two soldiers before him. 

"Well, if you're going to head all the way up to the coast, that's fine, but those beaches are even more heavily guarded than the rest of Europe right now. I'm telling you, that psycho Hitler thinks he can invade England. It'll never happen, not with the 1st and 2nd, and all those bombing raids."

"What about the blitz Kerry?" Jim looked skeptical. "He's got London and the rest of England under siege constantly these days."

"There's no one that sucker's going to get England. And even if he does, America's going to teach him a lesson or two about what belongs to who!" The two Americans laughed good-naturedly. Hiiro looked at Serena, who shrugged. He then narrowed his eyes, and Serena felt compelled to say something to ease his concern.

"Germany won't attempt an invasion of London. They're having too much trouble as it is fighting on two fronts." She whispered. The Americans became silent with her prophecy.

"Say doll, what do you know about Germany's plans?" Jim asked, smile slightly wavering.

"It's obvious Jim! That's something anyone with half a brain could see." Kerry nodded. "Them Russians'll put up a decent fight."

"And Normandy?" Hiiro asked blankly, staring at Serena. Instantly the tiny blonde wanted to crawl into her shell and keel over dead. But she had a sneaking suspicion that even if she were dead, Hiiro would still come after her and glare until he received his answer.

"It is under heavy guard. But there's a village on a peninsula straight north of us that's said to have been holding out with a small group of resistant Frenchmen. Cherbourg."

"Cherbourg? Honey, you two are heading towards Cherbourg?" Kerry sat up instantly. "America's been trying to put a base there for nearly two months now!"

"Kerry, shut it! That's classified!" Jim smacked his comrade on the shoulder.

"Well, it's true, ain't it? And then our division was going to set up shop there. We're part of the 4th, Ivy." Serena, seeing an argument was about to break out between the two soldiers, leaned over closer to Hiiro and began to whisper. He should know this.

"They won't have any hold over Cherbourg until after June."

"Invasion of Normandy, you mentioned it when we first arrived." Serena nodded, then settled back down. She didn't like this. It was too risky. But there really wasn't anything else they could do… Unless they could cross the English Channel, they would be trapped behind enemy lines for four more months.

"Let's move." Hiiro grunted, standing. Without thinking about it, he reached down and grabbed Serena's shirt. Yanking on it, he pulled her to her feet, then turned and began walking.

"That guy really is made out of ice." Jim said, shaking his head. He had apparently won whatever argument the two men had had.

"You okay doll face?" Kerry grinned at Serena, who was standing in shock and shaking. 

"Fine." She whispered; her cheeks flaming with red and her eyes glazed over dull. Too close, far too close! Then she shook her head and ran to catch up with Hiiro. All be damned if she let him leave her with these soldiers! At least he had a concept of where she was from, what she had known. And at least, though he still frightened her, Hiiro understood about talking.

Another three hours, and Hiiro stopped them abruptly. Serena, who had been walking very close to him, put her tiny hand on his shoulder and peeped up around him, hoping to spy what he was looking for before it spied them.

"Get down." He whispered very low. She nodded in agreement, and slid her hand off his shoulder. Then she let her knees unlock and dropped to the ground behind a tree that stood beside them. She watched Hiiro signal the other two soldiers up to him, and sign that they should take the left and right as he advanced into the clearing that was up ahead of them.

The three men moved slowly and silently through the foliage, guns cocked and readied for a split-second reaction if it was needed. A good half an hour later Hiiro finally signaled to the other two to let their guards down a little. 

"Find the woman." He ordered them. The men looked at him dubiously, but his glare squelched any and all of their arguments before they arose. Though they were not supposed to take orders from any one but their superior, their superior was not currently anywhere within a two hundred miles range, and somehow Hiiro seemed as though he knew what he was doing. 

"What about you?" Jim asked as they turned back but realized he wasn't following. 

"I'll be back." Then he disappeared, and the two men could do nothing more than shrug and return to where they had left Serena hiding.

"What was it?" She whispered, still not sure whether it was all right to be speaking.

"False alarm. Or at least, we think it was. Iceman's still out there searching for something, but we didn't find anything." Kerry told her. Serena did not like the news, but there was little she could do about it now that Hiiro wasn't within her range. They sat for what seemed like hours in the darkening woods waiting for Hiiro to return.

"You sure he's going to come back Serena?" Kerry finally asked. Serena could do no more than nod.

"What if he doesn't? He abandon us—all three of us. Well, don't worry Serena. In the morning we'll all set out for Cherbourg together. We'll take you with us, don't worry doll."

"I'll wait for Preventer Zero." Serena told them, head bowed and eyes glued to the spider she had just spotted crawling towards her.

"Who? You mean Hiiro? Look hon, chances of him coming back are slim to none, even if he didn't abandon us on purpose."

"He'll come."

"Man, you two are a pair of something else. It's like you're from a different time zone or something. Look, he's only a man. Just because we haven't heard any gun fire doesn't mean he didn't run into any Germans, and just because we didn't hear any screaming doesn't mean he isn't dead or wounded."

"No…" Serena shook her head.  
"What, you in love with the Iceman or something?" She just continued to shake her head. "Doesn't matter. Look, he isn't—"

"Shh!" Jim instantly hushed his comrade. "Someone's coming." Serena stayed as still as she could while Jim and Kerry slipped behind trees nearby, guns cocked and ready. Serena's ears could pick up traces of German echoing through the trees. Holding her breath, she prayed. Where was Preventer Zero? Where was Hiiro? *

~~~What do you all think? Good, bad, mediocre? I had a few comments asking how I know so much about the war… believe it or not, I'm sitting here with three encyclopedias, two notebooks full of history notes, and the history channel playing in the background! I'm _researching_ for this! Much love, Vixen~~~


	8. POW

Chapter Eight: P.O.W.

*"Still as still as you can Serena." Jim whispered to her from behind his tree. "If they don't know you're there, they won't fire." Serena couldn't even nod she was so frozen with fear. Death was so near… and she had said she wasn't scared! No, correction. She had said she wasn't scared to die in a time warp, or even to die in her sleep of old age. But this death… this was not a death she had come to terms with. Being shot, pumped full of lead by Nazi soldiers as they came across her and two American soldiers in the middle of the woods in France during 1944. Nope, definitely never a death she had considered.

"I can't tell what they're saying." She overheard Jim whisper to Kerry. But Kerry just shook his head. He didn't understand German either.

"One said he heard voices." Serena translated without being asked. "The other was telling the men to spread out and search." 

"You understand German?" The GI's blinked. Serena nodded, eyes glued to the ground. "And French, Russian, Latin, Italian, and Japanese. And Greek." She added, after thinking about her list and ticking off the languages she had mastered. Of course she knew all of those languages! Russian and German and French were important because they had been such vast superpowers throughout the majority of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Latin, Greek, and Italian because the romance languages helped in decoding many of the historical documents and artifacts that she came across in research, and Japanese because her father had been Japanese. What was wrong with that? And she wasn't completely fluent in all of the languages—only most. 

"Get down!" Kerry hissed. German soldiers were now sweeping into their territory; guns cocked and ready to be fired in a moment's notice. Serena looked over at Jim, who had suck down into the roots of a large tree and had his gun clasped to his chest. His helmet was slightly tilted to the right, and his dirty face could not hide the fear and nerves he clearly felt about their situation.

Kerry, to her other side, did not look much better. The man was crouched up in a tree and had his gun aimed at the nearest German, but even from their distance Serena could see that his hands were shaking—in fact, even the gun was shaking he could hardly hold it steady. Was this how all men were before death? Did they fear it so greatly? Was this what made them human? 

Serena had often wondered what made humans human. What had separated them from the apes? It had been their conscience, their ability to imagine and dream and create. But there had to be something more. Men often boasted that they only really felt _alive_ after they had beaten someone else up, or after they had lived through a rough beating themselves. Did that make them human? The pain? No. Animals recognized pain. What made humans so different?

"I heard something!" She heard a German soldier whisper. By now, the Nazi was so close that she could see the terror in his eyes and the bead of sweat as it dripped down the side of his face. And all she could think about was: "Oh God, they've found me, oh God, I'm going to die." A loud crack went off through the air, and Serena whimpered slightly, trying to dig herself deeper into the ground. Looking up, she tried to find Kerry and Jim, to reaffirm that they would protect her. Jim was still dug under the tree roots, gun aiming, but tears now stream down his face. Kerry… where was Kerry… she craned her neck ever so slightly, but could not find where he had hidden himself in the tree branches. When her eyes could not spot him, she frantically gazed around, until they landed and remained glued in one spot.

On the dirty, pine needle ground lay a human body. It was a man's body, an American man judging from the army uniform he wore. His head was buzzed, and the once blonde fuzz was now covered in thick, sticky red goop as it oozed out into the forest floor. His mouth was opened, a silent scream of pain that had never been uttered lay upon his lifeless lips. Kerry… 

Serena reached up with her hand to her face very gently and wiped away the hot tears that had begun to trickle down her cheeks. Why was she so sad? She had hardly known the man. Boy. Kerry had told them he had only turned twenty-one two months earlier. He was still in many ways a boy. Who was dead. And she took pity on his prone form and for some unexplainable reason, wept without understanding why.

"I hear something else!" Another German whispered. Now she could see that they were headed in Jim's direction. But Jim wasn't raising his weapon, Jim wasn't moving to hide, Jim wasn't running away. Jim was openly crying, muttering the word, the name, 'Kerry' over and over to himself. One more loud crack, and all was silent. And more tears dripped down over Serena's face. And one sob escaped her lips.

"There's another one!" The German voice called out. Where? She looked around. Where was the other… it was her! They knew she was here! But her sobs were too many, her tears too hot, her legs to slow. Never could she have even fantasized about running, not at that moment.

"It's a woman! I can't shoot a woman!" Another German called. In the blink of an eye she found she was surrounded by five or six Nazi officers, all in the same classic gray uniform, all wearing the same red armband with the swastika, and all glaring darkly at her.

"She's blonde, blue eyed." One of them remarked. 

"She must be French."

"With Americans?"

"Filthy mongrels. They mix their breeding with scum and expect us to give them mercy?" One of the Germans spat in the direction that Kerry's body lay in. Serena had half a mind to smack him for his utter disregard of the dead, but then had another thought. She had cried for the dead. He had shown no compassion for the dead. Did that make him any less human? Because he could not appreciate pain, most especially the pain that came with death?

"Up woman! Up!" The Germans said in mixed French and German. She looked up and then back down. Slowly she breathed in, and ordered her body to stop crying. One more deep breath, and then she stood.

"I am not French, I am German." She sputtered in their language a last ditch attempt to save her life. Then men instantly stopped. 

"You are German?" One asked skeptically.

"Yes." She nodded, trying her best to duplicate their accent as she spoke. "I was kidnapped by the two Americans and forced to go with them."

"She _is_ blonde, and she _is_ blue-eyed…" One pointed out.

"She's old." Another frowned. "We have no use for the old. We are the Arian race, perfect in every way; the old are flawed."

"No, I am not so old. I am seventeen. The Americans forced me to dress this way, to hide what I am."

"To hide your perfection? Yes. Pigs would." Their commander nodded. "Take her back to headquarters and clean her up. Do not worry my dear, you will be sent home to our country and our great leader. Thank you for your service to your country." Serena dumbly nodded, not quite sure what had just happened. Had, had they fallen for it?

"Yes sir!" The soldiers nodded and grabbed Serena by her arms. As they dragger her off, she sent a hope that somewhere, wherever he was, Preventer Zero would find her.

From the bushes right behind Jim's body Hiiro watched Serena as she was led away by the troops. Half a smirk played across his thin lips and stoic face. An ingenious idea. It was too bad he looked so oriental, or he might have tried it. Then again, he had the blue eyes. He knew the language. Perhaps all it would take was a uniform and a bit of an accent to convince them—and break Serena out in the process. Then a frown fell across his chiseled features. 

He could not, under any circumstances, let those men get their hands on Serena and find out she was a fraud. The knowledge she carried might just possibly be enough to turn the tides of the war, and he could not allow that to occur. Even if it meant silencing her himself. But he hoped it would not come to that. As far as people went, he had almost grown to… accept her company. It would be a shame to… He was a soldier, and he would do what was necessary for survival, and that was all there was to it. 

)(

When Serena opened her eyes next, she found she was lying on a bed in a large room. There were two other women in the room with her, both speaking quick and fluent German. When they noticed she was awake, they smiled somewhat cheerfully at her, and she drew back, not wanting them to come near her. They were too close to her in such a state of vulnerability… how did she know they wouldn't hurt her?

"Don't be afraid dear. My name is Greta, and this is Matilda, and we're the personal secretaries of the two commanders here. You poor thing, being caught by those nasty Americans! Dirty pigs…"

"And forced to hide yourself like that… poor woman!"

"When the patrol returned, you had fallen asleep, and we wouldn't let them wake you. Now that you are up, we shall cleanse you, and of course get you some new clothes. We don't have much, but anything is better than your rags."

"We are already running low on food, but I'll scrounge something up for you. I'm sure you haven't eaten in a while. But, of course, the food should go to building our men's strength first."

"Of course Matilda. She seems like a bright woman, she knows the men are more important. Come now, come get clean."

Serena simply remained glued to the bed, her large eyes peering through her thick glasses, which had begun to slip down onto the tip of her nose. She did not want to go anywhere with these women, she did not trust them. She did not trust any body anymore. Preventer Zero had abandoned her in the past, the American soldiers had abandoned her in the woods, no, she would trust no one here. But she also knew that if she did not move, they would begin to suspect her for what she was—a fake. And then she would truly be in trouble. The Reich did not take well to spies.

"Come now dear, I know you must have a had a dreadful experience, but we must be strong for the men out there, or else it will dishearten them. We must be proud women and show that their work amounts to something." Greta chided. Serena numbly nodded, and slid off of the bed. She allowed the women to lead her into a smaller room off to the side of hers, and then to help her remove her shoes. After that, she waited and watched as the two women left her alone with a bathtub full of steaming water. 

Lowering herself into the tub, Serena felt refreshed and cleansed for the first time in three days. In fact, she was certain that she could see dirt practically lifting off of her skin and floating away as she lathered the soap onto her arms and legs. After she had rinsed her hair, she reached up to wash her face, and remembered the last time she had touched her face was to wipe away tears. Now no more tears came when she thought of Kerry and Jim, but memories of dead, lifeless bodies haunted the insides of her eyelids every time she so much as blinked. 

"You dressed?" A deep voice called through the door. Serena looked up instantly.

"Preventer Zero?" She whispered. The door opened and in walked Hiiro. Taking care to shut the door silently behind him, he grabbed the towel that had been left for her off the sink and held it out to her.

"Let's go."

"You left me." She narrowed her eyes. There was no time to be intimidated by this human, he had left her alone, and now he was going to hear it from her for it!

"I left you with Kerry and Jim, not the most reliable men. They died."

"And you wouldn't have?" Hiiro shrugged, and Serena got the chilling sensation that he really wouldn't have. In fact, she had the fleeting thought that he might well be immortal and indestructible. But that fantasy was thrown away quickly, and she blushed deeply.

"Turn around." Hiiro, whose cheeks reddened considerably as well, did as she asked and held the towel out for her without looking. He could hear her stand and the water as it ran off from her and dripped back down into the tub. The tiny room was hardly big enough for the two of them and the bathtub, but they made due easily enough. As she changed, Hiiro planned their escape route. He knew they would be looking for her once they found she was missing, so he had to be ready to have them well hidden. 

Unfortunately, his thoughts kept wandering to the woman who was standing beside him. She hadn't, for the first time since he had met her, looked frumpy and mousy when he had walked into the bathroom, she had looked… sexy. God, maybe he _was_ just like those American soldiers who had been ready to hit on just about any woman they came across because they hadn't seen a decent one in so long. 

Trying as hard as he could to focus on his escape route, Hiiro decided the best thing would be to get her out into the forest again, and then hide somewhere low to the ground. He had spied a small field that might work well—the tall grass would hide them, and they would be able to run if needed. 

"I'm dressed." Serena finally muttered. Hiiro turned around and inwardly gasped. How could have _ever_ thought she was… sexy? Her dirty turtleneck hid any and all curves she might have had, those jeans that were three sizes too big made her seem short and childish, and her glasses were only more prominent with her wet hair slicked back so tightly against her head. He shuddered, and then grabbed her hand.

"We run into the open field on the left and then into the woods past it. I won't let you out of my sight. Even if you can't see me, I will be able to see you. Just keep running. They'll be after us."

"Okay." She whispered. Hiiro nodded, and just as he was about to open the bathroom door to check and see if everything was clear, he stopped. Voices could be heard in the hallway echoing towards them. *

~~~Will they make it? I don't know. Maybe I'll just kill them off and end this. At least that would be more interesting. Much love, Vixen~~~


	9. Einheints

Chapter Nine: Einheints

*Serena gasped lightly as she felt Hiiro's grip around her hand tighten considerably, and then loosen. Those women were returning! They would catch Hiiro with her, and then know that she had been lying, and that she wasn't a German civilian! 

"Cancel the strategy." Hiiro finally whispered. "Play along with them. They think you were a German captive?" Serena nodded. Hiiro eyed the door warily. "Let them think what they will. Don't answer any questions unless you have to—No information leakages about this war to them, understand?"

"Yes." The blonde nodded her pale face, causing her glasses to slide down to the tip of her nose again. Pushing them up, she looked hard at Hiiro. "What if they suspect because I don't say anything?"

"They'll believe you were traumatized. Worst-case scenario, lie to them. Do whatever you have to do to mislead them in the Allies plans, as well as any tactical mistakes they may have made that turned the tide of the war to the Allies' favor."

"And you?" She gasped. This was moving too fast, she couldn't possibly _lie_ to German Nazis! But she had to! She should have stayed with her books, should have stayed with skeletons and artifacts and carbon dating… why hadn't she?

"I'll be around." He muttered, groaning. The women were coming; he didn't have time to dally.

"Around? _Around_?" Serena whispered, clutching his hand harder. Hiiro swore under his breath. He knew fear when he saw it, even in thickset old maids. 

"Around." He told her firmly, finally detaching her from his hand. Serena nodded, swallowing hard and closing her eyes for one final prayer. Then she stood to her full height, which made Hiiro almost smirk—even when she _wasn't_ hunched over, she was still incredibly short—and took hold of the doorknob. When she turned the old brass handle, it creaked and squeaked, and she winced, but nevertheless managed to open the door and shut it quickly behind her.

"Oh, did you already finish your bath dear?" Matilda asked her smiling gently. "That's good. A good woman is always quick and efficient in everything she does, you will set a good example for your daughters one day." Serena fought the urge to back away from these women and run, and instead simply blushed and looked down at the hardwood floor. The women took her actions as modesty, and grinned again.

"Now dear, do you have a name? Something we can call you other than dear?" Greta asked her sweetly. Oh no! Serena wasn't a very German name! She needed something to convince the women that she was a Nazi supporter more than anything. 

"Einheits." Serena threw out randomly.

"Unity? What a lovely name for a lovely young woman. Even in your name do you support your country, what patriotism!" Matilda laughed gaily. Serena watched the strawberry blonde as she began to move and make the bed she had been laying in before. The other woman, Greta, neared her, and Serena began to tremble.

"Now, now Einheits, not to worry. I've brought you a skirt and blouse to try on. You looked as though you might be my younger sister's size, but since I haven't anything that small, we'll simply have to make due with this." Greta held out a pile of folded clothing in one hand—a blue skirt and white blouse, with a pair of nylon stockings atop the pile—and black shoes in her other.

"Thank you." Serena nodded, taking the clothes from her. 

"Go change in the bathroom, and then come on out. We'll worry about cleaning the tub later—right now the commander has a few question he'd like you to answer." As quickly as she could, Serena ducked back into the bathroom to change, leaving the other two women in the room next door. Looking around, she was mildly shocked not to find Hiiro still in the bathroom.

"Pre, Preventer Zero?"

"Shh." A warning hush came from the window. Hidden behind the curtains was the man she had traveled to the past with, and relief flooded her greatly for some reason to know he had been so close by.

"They want to take me to their commander—he wants to ask a few questions." She explained as she placed the pile of clothes in the empty sink.

"Then answer a few questions. With backwards information."

"What if they find out I'm lying?" Serena whined softly.

"They're only men." Hiiro scoffed. "And from what I've seen, they're only a few clubs and spades, not even in the royal suit. They won't be able to tell the difference."

"You're trained to lie, to withhold information!" She narrowed her eyes. Now she was getting upset. But it was not with Hiiro, not really. She was just nervous about confronting people and having to lie. It was bad enough to have to be around them. It was bad enough to have to associate with them. It was bad enough to let them see her vulnerable side when she was asleep. But to lie face to face with them? Serena wasn't quite all that sure that her heart could take the pressure!

"I may have been trained to withstand torture conditions, but this isn't any such situation. Those men don't believe woman can possibly be an equal, I've been watching for a few hours. You should know, you're the historian."

"Of course I know they think we're the inferior sex. But if they find out I'm lying, they won't care _what_ I am, they'll shoot me all the same."

"I'll have you out of here before they can accomplish that feat." Hiiro told her soothingly. His voice had dropped the hardcore military drill that she had become accustomed to in hopes that it would help to calm her fears. If she thought he was worried, or wavered even slightly, chances were she would go into hysterics and then they really would be up a creek without a paddle. 

And then there was that pesky guilt gnawing on his stomach again. Every time she looked up at him through those horrible tortoiseshell glasses with those too-big blue eyes he felt a little worse for bringing her and then leaving her with incompetent men while he went and scouted ahead. He should have been there; he should have stopped them from taking her. On some deeper level, Hiiro knew he had change the tone of his voice so that as well as helping to calm her down, it would also help towards apologizing—something he _never_, not in a million years, would be able to do aloud.

"Einheits! Are you dressed yet?" One of the women in the room beside them shouted. Serena jumped, and Hiiro caught her by her shoulders and turned her around so she faced the door.

"Tell them you'll be right out." Hiiro prodded her. 

"I'll be right out." She said aloud. Though it came out more as a strangled and broken announcement, the women on the other side of the door chuckled. 

"Don't worry about the size so much dear, just do with it what you can." Serena nodded on instinct, as if they could really see her through the door.

"Get dressed, don't let them suspect you've been wasting time in here, or they'll want to know why."

"Preventer Zero, help with the buttons, there're a good deal on these clothes. We'll get it done faster." Serena finally hissed. Throwing the blouse at him, she made sure he had begun unbuttoning the front buttons before she stripped herself of her belt and let the jeans that were too big fall to the floor. There was no time for reserve at the moment; she needed speed over modesty. Fortunately for her, Hiiro turned his back to her without even being asked. She was grateful to him in ways she knew she would never be able to express aloud. 

Tugging on the skirt proved easy—it fit her better than she had expected by simply looking at it. Cinching it as tightly as possibly, she then began to work on pulling up the hose while Hiiro finished with the buttons of the blouse. They were tan stockings, and slightly thicker than she knew they were in the future. But she had to confess, she had never actually worn a pair of them—her family had never exactly been upper class, and it had never mattered whether or not she had had proper hose, she never would have worn them. But now she struggled, going only on what she thought she knew, and what she could assume from looking at the pair. The garters that went up to her thy were uncomfortable, but at least she was beginning to fit in with the time period.

"Here." Hiiro grunted, flinging the serviceable blouse in her direction. Serena briefly flushed, then tossed off her turtleneck and threw on the blouse, buttoning as fast as she could and then tucking it into the skirt. Straightening the collar, she hoped she looked semi-decent. Shoes! She turned to say something to Hiiro, but found that he was already holding the pair of shoes up, though keeping his head turned in the opposite direction. Serena let a small smile slip, then grabbed them from his large hand.

Sitting on the end of the bathtub, she looked at the shoes, trying to figure out how to begin. They were high heeled, thick-soled, and black. She could see that they had a tiny bow across the front, in proper fashion of nineteen-forties shoes. Finally she settled for just shoving her foot into each and pushing until her foot slipped in. At least they fit fairly well.

"I'm dressed." She announced. Hiiro grunted, but turned around.

"It only took you three minutes." He told her. 

"Good." She nodded, peeking in the dirty and broken mirror that sat above the sink. Hiiro too, for the first time, checked her new appearance and pursed his lips together. Pretty…

"Preventer Zero?" Serena asked for the third time.

"I'll be around—you'll never be out of my sight for more than three minutes." She gulped and nodded. 

"But I asked how I looked?" Hiiro simply stood and gaped, reminding himself to keep his facial expressions as stoic as possible while he did.

"Well enough." He finally submitted. Serena gave him one last piercing glance, and then stood at the door taking in large, deep breaths. This time she was ready for the squeaking door handle, and when it did not, she found herself growing more and more nervous. She had to be insane! Leaving the only safety she had found since she had gotten to this time locked behind her in a bathroom?

"Einheits, you look so much better!" Matilda smiled.

"Beautiful. The men will be pleased to see they've rescued a real woman." Greta grinned somewhat grudgingly. Seren simply stood in the doorway of the bathroom, the door shut behind her, as though she couldn't quite move on her own. "Come on then dear, the commander will be waiting." 

Matilda took hold of one of Serena's hands, and Serena immediately drew it back, not wanting to be touched by some strange person, regardless of who they were or what time they were from. Matilda gave her a strange look, and an echo of Hiiro's words plagued her memory instantly. _"Don't let them suspect you've been wasting time in here, or they'll want to know why."_ Slowly she reached out, and offered her hand to the woman again.

"Sorry." She muttered. But Matilda patted her hand gently and took hold of her whole arm as she led her out of the room, down the hall, and then down the stairs.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure those Americans treated you roughly, it's only a natural response you've learned." Serena pursed her lips and hoped that her silence would suffice as a yes. But even if it had, it wouldn't have mattered—they had already stopped outside of a room bustling with activity. 

Soldiers were standing at attention guarding the door with stern faces, and other were walking in and out with papers or simply talking to one another. Matilda and Greta led her into the room, and Serena realized it had once been a very lovely drawing room used to entertain high-class company when they had visited. Now, desks and chairs had been set up in the room, and large, bulky equipment she knew to be telegraph lines and radio transmitters. The clacking sound of typewriters also echoed faintly through the room, and she spied a man typing letter after letter in the corner of the room.

"Ah, Greta, Matilda. Is this our hostage survivor?" A tall man stood up from a desk surrounded by other soldiers. 

"Yes sir. This is Einheints. She was taken captive by two American soldiers and forced to walk from Germany to here."

"Are you in good health my dear? They did not hurt you, touch you?" The man frowned, his bushy mustache brushing against his top lips as he moved.

"She's perfectly healthy." Matilda told him when Serena did not answer. "She only still slightly shaken by her ordeal."

"Is this true Einheints? Are you only in mild shock?"

"Yes sir." Serena managed to garble. She knew her cheeks were bright red, and her eyes found a hard time focusing on anything—suddenly her new shoes were very much more interesting than they had been when she had put them on.

"I see. Tell me, did the Americans say anything to you that you might find important?" The man's face was grim, and she did not like the way he glanced at her—as if she were a piece of meat to be devoured, or a songbird for his own personal amusement.

"No. They would not say anything in front of me. They only spoke of hunger."

"Nothing about any plans to invade, or any bombing raids that they might be sending out? Think very carefully, this could be a life saving piece of information should we hear about it in time to evacuate a city. Any targets they may have mentioned?"

"They only thing I heard was that they now had troops in Italy. I did not know there was even war in Italy." Serena lied through her teeth. The commander in front of her smiled a sly grin, and lightly began to stroke her arm. Sucking in her breath, Serena tried hard not to struggle or flinch.

"My dear, you are too innocent to have been kidnapped, but I suppose that is why they did it. And such pains they must have gone through to hide your beauty… well, do not worry. I will send you home with Matilda and Greta when we leave this house. Back to Germany, doesn't that sound nice?"  
"Yes." Serena gritted out through her teeth. 

"You don't sound pleased my dear." The man's smile dropped a little. Serena was caught.*


	10. Common Ground

Chapter Ten: Common Ground

*Gulping, Serena quickly took in a deep breath and managed to look up from her shoes to meet the commander's eyes. "I am. I miss home, and mama." She said, this time with much more fervor.

"Mama! You miss mama!" The man roared with laughter. "Yes, far too innocent to have been dragged into this. Thank you my dear, for telling me about Italy. Unfortunately, we have known about those troops for a short while now. Still, your willingness and attempt to help your country and Fuehrer. Heil Hitler."

"Heil Hitler." Serena whispered, quite frightened that the rantings of an insane political leader, mass murderer, and suicidal idiot were coming from her very lips.

"Take her back to her room and let her rest, I'm sure this ordeal has been quite taxing. I'll check in on her later."

"Yes sir." Both Greta and Matilda gave him the highest regards, and then led Serena away. She recognized the route—they were heading back to the room with the bathroom, the room where Hiiro was so close. Good, at least she could tell him what had happened.

"Why don't you lay down, as the commander suggested? Both of us have other duties to perform, and you could use rest." Greta told Serena when they arrived at her door. Serena nodded, and quietly stepped into her room. Shutting the door behind her, she heard the lock on the outside click, and knew they had locked her in so she couldn't wander off. Not that she would, even if she could. 

"Preventer Zero?" She peeked in the bathroom, trying to spot him behind the curtains again. But the rooms were empty, Hiiro was gone. Grand, simply grand. He had left her again! Then she heard the lock on the other door being rattled, and holding her breath, she stood still and at attention, not sure of who was going to be coming in.

A man was deep, chocolate hair and a gray Nazi uniform strolled into the room a moment later, closing the door and locking it behind him. Serena gulped in fear. What did this man want? 

"What did he ask you?" Serena gasped.

"Preventer Zero! The uniform…"

"Not safe to wander around without one." He told her briefly. His back was turned away from her she noticed. Usually he watched her like a hawk when talking to her—unless of course she was in the bath or changing. "What did they ask you?"

"What I had heard Kerry and Jim say."

"And your response?"

"That they were hungry, and that troops were in Italy."

"Nothing they didn't already know." Hiiro nodded in approval. "Good. And what are they going to do with you now?"

"Keep me here. I'm to rest until they decide to abandon this house as a base. Then they'll ship me 'back' to Germany with Greta and Matilda."

"The other women?" Serena nodded, then realized Hiiro couldn't see her.

"Yes." She responded verbally.

"Don't get attached historian. Or you'll end up as in shock as you were when the GI's were shot." Serena's eyes began to tear up, and she dipped her head down to her chest. 

"They didn't even make the first move…" She sobbed. "I barely knew them, and I still can't understand why I am so emotional over it."

"You are unused to death in any certain terms." Hiiro shifted uncomfortably. Now he was facing her, and he could see her eyes were glazed over, and that she was swallowing hard—sure signs that she was on the verge of tears. How often had Relena looked at him like that? Too often…

"Not true. I had come to terms with death. There are worse things than death in every moment of life. But the way they died… like animals."

"Humans are animals." Serena's head shot up, and Hiiro once again squirmed. Though she had taken her glasses off, her eyes were still large, and very expressive. They made him feel as if she were burrowing into his soul.

"Of course." When her small voice agreed with him, Hiiro really did a double take and looked at her. Within that small time in the bathroom, he had seen her undergo an absolutely astounding change in appearance. She was no longer the dumpy old maid she had once been; now she was a vibrant, obviously concerned young woman. And she agreed with him?

"What do you mean, 'of course'?"

"Humans… they are loud, noisy creatures." Serena muttered. Why was she doing this? Why was she sharing her thoughts on people with this man? But hadn't he said something along the same lines as what she believed in?

"I—" Hiiro's next sentence was cut off by voices echoing through the halls. Soldiers were on their way! Quickly he slipped into the bathroom, and let Serena deal with the men. He heard muffled voices, but Serena's was too soft to catch everything. Finally he heard the door shut loudly and the lock click, and then he left the safety of the bathroom.

"What did they want?" He drilled her. But instead of answering, she held up a plate of food. The visual was sufficient, and Hiiro's stomach warned him that he was hungry. But he wasn't about to steal food from this woman! She needed it more than he did.

"Preventer Zero?" Serena saw his face become stoic once more, and wondered what was going through his mind.

"Eat." He grunted, heading for the door.

"You must be hungry too, you haven't had anything to eat for the same time I haven't."

"I'm trained to handle conditions such as these."

"Yes, but you don't _have_ to handle them, we have food. Just take a little bite. It's only gruel and a banana. They must really be running low on supplies."

"No."

"Please?"

"You're not afraid of me any longer." He pointed out, trying to change the subject. Serena looked down, but began peeling the banana.

"You came back, even if it was late. Most humans think only of themselves and their survival. Survival of the fittest, I suppose, is the most practical logic that people have been following since they were born. But you, you came back for me. And you don't talk loudly or noisily, or make things up." She shuddered. "And you don't try to touch me." Then she held the banana out towards him as a peace offering. Hiiro accepted it without even thinking about it.

"I need you to survive. I don't know history or this war."

"You are a Preventer! You had the…" her voice lowered to a very slight whisper. "_Gundams… _in your hanger. You're trained for wars like this, I'm sure you could easily adapt. Not to mention you were going to go to the fifties without a historian originally. Why do you suddenly need me now?" Serena watched Hiiro shift and a light frown plague his lips.

"You were supposed to forget you had seen _those_." He growled.

"I did. Until now. You _were_ a Gundam pilot, weren't you?"

"Classified information. And I need you now, historian, because I don't know about this war. I could have done the fifties all right, but a World War? No."

"Well, you as much as just told me you were a pilot, and I have to say, you knew how to get clear of Nazi occupation; follow the forest north until you hit Cherbourg, cross the channel, and you would have been fine. But you still came back for me." Hiiro finally gave up. He knew she was right. He had come back for her out of the guilt that he could not leave her to her own devices helpless and in the middle of a war. And now look at him! Sitting with her, and she had turned out not to look half bad, and eating a banana. 

"This was supposed to be _your_ banana." He told her crossly.

"Your stomach grumbled. I wouldn't want any passing soldiers to hear it and suspect something was wrong." Serena explained simply. 

"As soon as you finish, we need to discuss an escape plan." Hiiro finally submitted. He saw her nod, then dig in somewhat happily to the gruel that was piled up in the bowl they had given her. Shaking his head inwardly at her childish reaction to the food, he turned away and looked out the window. 

His old escape plan would still work, but there was the problem of her being misses by the two women that had been hanging around. Or by the commander whom she had spoken to. Maybe he should simply wait and let an opportunity present itself. But what if one didn't? Or it took too long? They certainly could not pretend to be German Nazis forever. Just as he mulled over the problem of time, heavy footsteps echoed into his hearing range. When the door began to jiggle, he knew he was in a bind. 

"Preventer Zero!" Serena hissed. Hiiro calmly looked at her, and then at the empty bowl that lay beside her. Taking the plate and placing the bowl on the plate, and the banana peel into the bowl, he nodded to her. And he rather enjoyed the way her jaw dropped open in disbelief at the stunt he was about to attempt. Then the door burst open.

"Commander." Serena greeted him quietly but forcefully, letting Hiiro know exactly who this man was.

"Einheints. And who is this?" The commander narrowed his eyes in Hiiro's direction. 

"I was ordered to pick up the lady's plates." Hiiro lied with the greatest of ease.

"Well then, see to it that they get back to the kitchen and cleaned properly soldier!" The commander barked.

"Yes sir." Hiiro nodded in acknowledgement as he stepped out, and the commander closed the door behind him. Hiiro now more than anything wanted to know what was about to happen in the room where he had just left a German Nazi official and his historian. But there were two more soldiers posted outside the door now that the commander was inside, and Hiiro dared not slow for more than half a second, lest they stop him and find out what he really was. He would just have to satisfy his curiosity later when he returned.

Serena, on the other hand, wished very much that Hiiro would instantly return and somehow kick the commander out of her room. She did not like this smiling man. And it was more than the fact that she simply didn't like most humans in general, she simply did not trust this man as far as she could throw him. Which, judging by his somewhat portly belly, would not have been far, if at all.

"My dear Einheints. Such a beautiful name for a beautiful woman." The commander paused. "Do not fear me, Einheints. I will not harm you, not the way the American pigs did." But Serena was not convinced, and she did not move from her spot. "Einheints. It has been a long time since I have seen a woman such as yourself."

"Greta and Matilda are very pretty." Serena muttered, trembling. She already knew where this was leading. She did not know how to prevent it.

"They are indeed. But they work for me, I cannot think of them as beautiful when they are so busy."

"I am not that pretty. I wear glasses." She said, thinking quickly. Reaching into her pocket, she threw the thick, tortoiseshell framed glasses on.

"But you do not need them, do you? Or you would have been wearing them when we met downstairs." The man's grin grew, and he advanced on her, pulling the glasses off and tossing them to the floor.

"I am too young." Serena finally sputtered. 

"Too young?" Only then did the man stop.

"Seventeen." She finished in a whisper. Then the commander really backed off.

"Seventeen you say? So very young to be serving your country. And your Fuehrer will thank you graciously once the war is over, I am sure of it. Until then, however, I am sure I can put you to good use here, under my needs." Once again he took a step forward, and Serena melted back in fear. She hated humans! Greedy creatures that could have their fill and still want more and more and more, never realizing they were killing everything around themselves.

"Please don't." She whimpered as he unbuttoned her top two blouse buttons and untucked her shirt. 

"Shh, shh, everything will be fine." He told her softly, kissing her ear. And then in the next moment Serena felt herself being pushed away to the ground, the commander above her, screaming profanities of all kinds and natures, and large, loud cracking noises and explosions very close by.

The commander stood and ran out of the room, leaving her quite stunned. Just as she was pulling herself together off the ground and looking towards the door, another round of ear shattering cracks and booms filled the air, and smoke now reached her nostrils. Once again she had been knocked off her feet, and had hit her shoulder into the wall behind her hard. Men screaming in German below, shouting orders and trying to save themselves had created a chaotic background noise that tingled her ears. Her vision, though blurry from being so shaken, was, just as the German commander had suggested, fine, even without the glasses she had been so accustomed to wearing. Unfortunately, even with her vision, she was having a hard time standing and keeping straight.

"It's alright, take your time." Two hands clamped around her right arm and helped tug her up and steady her.

"What hit us?" She asked, slipping into English on accident. Hiiro did not notice and joined her in their original language.

"B-17's. We're closer to the coast than we originally thought."

"Thank God for the Allies." Serena muttered. 

"Why?" Hiiro stopped and asked confused. 

"That commander…" Serena shuddered, and Hiiro knew she didn't want to finish. Well, he wouldn't make her. 

"Let's get going. The field probably isn't the safest route anymore, but it's our only route north. We can either go straight through or get into the forest straight away and work out way around." More explosions around them went off, and now the window was decorated with flames that shown through it from down below.

"The planes are old, they don't have lights, and tactics suggest we are supposed to avoid the open areas, like fields. I think we'll be fine going straight through. At least it isn't as expected as simply running into the trees."

"Fine. Move out." The pair ran quickly through the chaos and down the stairs. The last five Hiiro jumped, and the last three Serena jumped and he caught her by her waist as a large explosion racked the house above them.

"Good thing we got out of there when we did." Serena muttered. Hiiro nodded, but said nothing as they ran from the bombing raid. Soldiers on the ground were making one final attempt to take a stand, shooting blindly into the black night sky hoping to hit the B-17's, but really there was nothing they could do. A few more explosions, and the house was no longer recognizable. But Hiiro and Serena just kept running from it all, running from the humanity of it all. *


	11. A Few More Bullets

Chapter Eleven: A Few More Bullets

*"The woods should be right up ahead." Hiiro told Serena, who was lagging behind him slightly. 

"Okay." She wheezed. Running as fast as she could, she still could not keep up with Hiiro. She couldn't tell if it was because he had longer legs, or because of his training as a soldier, or because of his flat shoes and her high heels, but whatever the case may be, she was working hard, but not able to keep up.

Behind them screaming and yelling could be heard, and the skies were lit with orange and yellow flames as they licked the horizon over the tall grass. The loud explosions had now subsided, and the engines of the planes could only be heard in the faint distance as they returned to their base for fuel and more ammunition.

"Serena?" Hiiro had dropped back to make sure she didn't stop all together.

"Hmm?" She breathed hard. 

"We've hit the woods. We'll keep going, but running is no longer necessary." Hiiro told her. Immediately she halted her pace and began walking, grateful they could now cease running at top speed.

"Do you think many soldiers survived?" She asked Hiiro quietly.

"No. They were caught off guard, even their primitive sonar might have been able to have helped, if they had anyone manning it."

"They didn't? But they all looked so official and busy when I saw them." 

"By the time I was returning from dropping off your dishes, half the men in that main office had fallen asleep around the room. They were off guard and not prepared as a good army should have trained them to be at all times." He growled. It was obvious to Serena that he did not think very highly of the Nazi army. Or even the Allied army, she thought. He hadn't taken to Kerry or Jim either. Or maybe it was just him. 

"Halt!" A German voice resounded in the woods. Hiiro and Serena both stopped instantly, and Hiiro moved to put himself in front of Serena on instinct.

"Hello?" He called in German.

"American spies!" The voice called. A young soldier came out of the trees, a gun aimed directly at them. "I heard you talking in your language! Don't try to trick me!"

"Oh no!" Serena whispered worriedly. Hiiro grimaced, but stayed still.

"We're leaving, we aren't spies, and we aren't American. We're French, using English as a coded language from any Americans that we thought might have landed their planes nearby." Hiiro paused, hoping the soldier would fall for it.

"Liar! I saw her in the office with the commander, saying she was German!" The man yelled back. Hiiro winced, and Serena drew in a sharp breath. He wasn't stupid after all. But Hiiro could also see, from the short distance from the soldier, that his gun was shaking, and his voice had a nervous tone to it. This soldier, even if he didn't mean to, was going to slip up and pull the trigger on accident if he didn't loosen up.

"Please? We just want to go home." Serena whispered, more to herself than to anyone. Hiiro heard her, and a fond flutter echoed in his heart for a moment. She wasn't pleading for her life to the soldier, she was pleading to go home. Such an innocent act. 

"Let us go, and we won't harm you." Hiiro tried the intimidation tactic.

"I have the gun trained on you!" The German boy shouted. Hiiro now rolled his eyes, getting tired of playing games.

"And I can just as easily have a gun trained on you." He muttered, pulling his handgun from his waistband. He saw the tremor in the German's hand increase, and knew he was about to loose his control.

"Serena, when I tell you to, dive down." 

"What? Why?" She asked skeptically, as if she hadn't heard or understood him the first time. 

"Do it." This time she held her questions and simply whispered a dainty yes. Hiiro, assured she would do as he told her to, then turned his attention back to the boy. "I'm giving you till the count of three to out your gun aside."

"No!" The boy argued. "I'm taking you hostage."

"On two dive Serena." He warned her then he narrowed his eyes and began. "One. Two…" Just as he finished the word, Serena dove, and the boy's gun fired. Hiiro dove as well, and then reached up to aim quickly. One more loud shot rang out through the woods, and then the boy's body fell lifeless and limp. Hiiro picked himself up off the ground, as did Serena, and they both stepped forward to examine the dead boy's body.

"He was so young… only in his early twenties." She remarked without feeling.

"You're seventeen, I'm twenty myself. It was him or us."

"Funny. People say humanity is defined by pain. But now he isn't human anymore, he's dead. Or do people only achieve humanity through the ultimate pain, which in effect would be death?"

"I often wondered the same." Hiiro, though he did not turn his head, let his eyes wander to Serena. He wondered how it was that he had found someone who was finally able to voice what he had always thought, but never been able to say. It was as if she were an extension of his own thoughts and beliefs. He had thought he was the only one. But here he saw there were two of them. Two. Maybe he wasn't so very different from the average person? Or maybe he and Serena were very different from the average people. 

"Halt!" More voices cried out in German, and Hiiro and Serena knew there was only one way to escape: run. So they ran. 

They ran as fast as they could, but still they could not delay the inevitable for much longer, Hiiro and Serena both knew. Finally Hiiro stopped behind a tree, and Serena paused with him to catch her breath.

"They'll execute us when they catch us." He told her grimly.

"I came to terms with death a long time ago." Serena breathed. Pausing for a moment, she wondered if what she was about to say should remain unsaid. Then she decided to fight her instinct and speak her mind for the last time. "But I never thought I would die at the hands of a World War Two soldier. I can't tell whether it's a noble death, because we've managed the impossible and traveled time to get here, or whether it's depressing, because we never made it to our true objective, the fifties." Hiiro shrugged. 

"Serena." He finally said, hearing the Germans come closer. "Thank you."

"For what?" She asked, somewhat startled that he was both touching her and thank her for reasons she didn't know or understand.

"For the banana." Hiiro finished lamely. He hadn't been able to say he wanted to. He wanted to say thanks to her, for at least humoring him in his journey trying to reach the fifties. He wanted to say thanks to her for the banana, yes, but it was more. It was thanks really for her thinking of him, and thanks to her for her help in this trip. And, most importantly, thanks to her for saying things he had never thought he would hear another person utter. That had meant the most, the fact that she had made him feel accepted in such a short span of time. It had amazed him.

Serena looked hard at Hiiro for a moment, still slightly awed by the fact that he was touching her. And then she lightened her gaze and lightly leaned in, hugging him. The human contact made her warm, and a sensation of safety tingled through her, causing lightheadedness and a dizzying array of new emotions. Never had she felt so close with another person. And somehow, she knew exactly what Hiiro had meant when he thanked her.

"You're welcome." Were her last words. Shots rang out, and in the dimness of the night, loud screaming could be heard.

)(

Groggily, he managed to haul himself up off the cold, hard floor and survey his surroundings. A small cell, with an iron door and one four by four window were his new home. Grunting as he pulled himself to his feet, Hiiro let the pain shoot through his side and then exit his body as if he had never felt it.

"You're up son." A gruff voice echoed in his ears, splitting his head in two as he tried to focus on the person whom had spoken.

"Soldier, you're not in any condition to be standing." Another voice pricked his sensitive eardrums. However, unlike the first, the second was laced with an accent, and this made it ten times harder to concentrate and make out what was being said.

"I'm fine." Hiiro grunted. Then he managed a glimpse of the two men he had been thrown into prison with. 

One reminded him of Kerry, the soldier from the B-52 he and Serena had met. His blonde hair had been buzzed short, and he was tall and lanky. But that was where the similarities stopped. This man also had a blonde mustache beneath his nose, and though it had probably not been trimmed in sometime, it was still clean cut to look at. His mouth was drawn into a hard, thin line—there was no joking around with this man, he was an experienced soldier, perhaps even a Captain. His clothing had been torn to shreds, but the faint green camouflage of his faded pants was still visible to the naked eye. Dog tags hung around his neck, and a cigarette was clutched in one hand.

The other man was a complete opposite of the American. His clothing had been ripped to pieces as well, but somewhere he had found a few old rags and created a new shirt for himself. He had brown hair cropped close to his face, and the lines of age that crinkled near his eyes and mouth told he had been alive for some time longer. He held no cigarette, but all the same coughed as though he had been a chain smoker his entire life. The somber mood both men had in their body language seemed to be set by him as well.

"Look here son, this Englishman is Sergeant Nicks, and he's been trained as a doctor. Maybe you should settle down and let him have a look at you now that you're awake." Hiiro glared, and drew back into the corner of the darkened cell. He felt like a wounded animal—he wanted to lick his wounds on his own; a vet would not be appreciated.

"Come on soldier, let me take a look at that wound. They got you in the stomach, did they then?" The Englishman advanced slightly. Hiiro glared again. 

"It's fine."

"Sure it is. Just sit down and let the man take a look at it. Didn't they teach you not to question your officers in basic?" The American frowned. "Maybe you didn't get a good look. I'm Captain Evans, fifth infantry." Now Hiiro was trapped. He could either let it be known he wasn't American, French, or English and refuse to listen to their chain of command, or he could play along and take on a roll. He did not think this was a good situation to be in—it put him at a high liability rate.

"Yes sir." He finally grunted. Stepping out of the shadows, he sat on the cement floor and allowed the English doctor to take a look at his bullet wound.

"It only grazed you in the lower ribs—missed hitting anything vital by a few inches. You're a lucky fellow." The doctor nodded, tying an old cloth rag around Hiiro's midsection as a bandage.

"Did he loose a lot of blood?" The American asked.

"Yes, that was the only reason he passed out. If he's up and standing now, I'm not worried. He'll make a full recovery, if it doesn't get infected."

"Good. Soldier, you're from what company?"

"Private Kerry, Ivy division. Sir." Hiiro monotonously replied.

"Ivy? An air division?"

"Yes sir. B-52 crashed three days ago, eight other men killed."

"Good lord…" The Englishman sighed. "We're dropping like flies out there." He took a seat on the hard floor beside Hiiro and rubbed his face with his hands out of frustration. 

"Once Normandy goes off we'll be fine." Evans finished tiredly. Hiiro said nothing, but his thoughts crept back to his last moments before being shot. And then it clicked.

"I was traveling with another person." He spoke low and coldly, hoping it would keep the American and Englishman short and to the point themselves.

"Sorry son, you were the only one brought in here. I thought you were the only survivor of the plane crash?" Evans asked suspiciously.

"I was. I had a German woman as a prisoner." Hiiro narrowed his eyes and hoped they wouldn't…

"Ah, a _lady_ friend was it?" Nicks thought he was being sly.

"A captive. No one else was brought in with me?"

"Nope, sorry. They probably thought she was French, or even English, and shot her on site. Women aren't of any use to a POW camp like this anyway."

"Where are we exactly?" Hiiro asked, closing his eyes and trying to come to terms with the newly found information. So. She was dead. 

"We don't know the name of the camp, or even where it is on a map. What we do know is that it isn't a regular camp—there are only fifty prisoners, and it's a mixture of air and infantry. The usual prisons keep air and infantry separated, as well as officers. We only have the vague notion that the Channel is somewhere north of us, only a day or two's walk."

"Before I was captured I was on my way to Cherbourg—it was only a day's walk from wherever I was according to the prisoner."

"And you trusted her?" The two older soldiers glared at him. Hiiro glared back. 

"You know son, love can make you do…"

"Not love." Hiiro rolled his eyes as he snapped at the men. This was embarrassing. And worse, he felt guilty. It was his fault she was dead. They never should have run from those soldiers, they should have faced them and let the Americans break them out when they had the chance. And now an innocent from the future was dead. Serena was dead.

"Out! Everybody out!" Germans began yelling in crude English to the men in cells. The doors were flung open, and guards with rifles led them out of the prison and into a small yard surrounded by sloppily made fences and barbwire. There were a few more armed guards around the perimeter, but none of them seemed to be too awake.

"Why do they even bother? Look at these men, not one of them has the strength to even attempt running." The Englishman shook his head. Hiiro looked around, and found that the doctor's words rang true. The other men in the camp were no better off than he was. Some were wrapped in large, yellowing and ripping bandages from head to foot. Others were so obviously malnourished that their ribs showed through their skin. All of them wore the tired faces of men who had once been in their prime, and were now simply tired of fighting; tired of living.

"Only seven guards." Hiiro counted to himself. He could handle a few more bullets before he was put out of commission for good… but what good would an escape attempt do? He could not do anything to help either side in the war. There were no mobile suits here in the forties, there were no high tech computers, or guns to use. His two hands and a small handgun would be the only weapons he could use, and with such small weapons, what was the use of one man? It would take many, and he was only one.

"I'm telling you, I saw them bring her in. It was a woman, no doubt about it. A pretty one too… long legs."

"Legs like Betty Davis?" 

"That's right. And the longest, blondest hair I've ever seen." Hiiro's ears picked up the conversation instantly. 

"A woman, here in the camp?" Captain Evans asked the men. For Hiiro's benefit, he winked in his direction. *


	12. Perfect Control

Chapter Twelve: Perfect Control

*"That's right sir. There was a woman brought in not a day ago, I saw her with my own eyes, I swear it."

"She was injured?" Hiiro sharply snapped. The men, not knowing what to say, simply shrugged. "Damn." He breathed. 

"Well, well, well Kerry. It looks like your girlfriend was only using you until she could get you here." Evans slapped Hiiro's shoulder. "Don't feel bad son. Better men have been tricked by women still." Hiiro glared, but said nothing. If he had said more, it would mean giving away more than he wanted to. He could never possibly explain to these men who he and Serena were, who they had been in the future, or how they had come across their paths, so why bother trying?

The men had said Serena was carried in. It meant she was injured badly enough that she was knocked out—possibly dead. If she was dead, why had they left her? Her clothing! She had been wearing German clothes… they could have thought she was German again, and taken her to be properly cared for. These men were not heartless, after all. Women and children were to be left alone during wars; that was the way the rules read.

"You're from the Ivy division soldier? I've never seen you before." A man suddenly took Hiiro off guard.

"New transfer." He grunted.

"Did you know Hornbeak? Great guy, HB, great guy…"

"No."

"Well, sorry!" The GI looked highly offended, and he spat at Hiiro's feet. "Just because you're a fresh one doesn't mean you got anything up on us. You think you're better because we've been in here longer?"

"No." Hiiro knew the man was trying to start a fight, and frankly he didn't want to be responsible for what would happen if a punch did fly his way. It wouldn't be a pretty sight… for the other soldier anyway.

"Son of a—"

"Cut that out soldier! You know better than to pick a fight!" Evans stepped in before any more words could be said.

"Sir, yes sir." The soldier grumbled and backed away. But another stepped forward.

"Sir, we've been in this camp for two months now. What's left for us to do?"

"You will remain as you were: keep your strength up, spirits up, and mind sharp. Don't answer any of their questions, don't rat on your comrades, and don't pick fights. They're trying to wear us down gentlemen; it's what we like to call psychological warfare. Don't let them get to you men."

"Damn Nazis." A few soldiers cursed in the background. Hiiro shook his head. This was not all that much different from the times he had been imprisoned during the Eve Wars. They were still being put into cells, still being given minimal food, and still being threatened in every possible way.

The one major difference was that during those wars he had been considered a dangerous threat, and not allowed to mingle with any other prisoners that may have been captured the same way. He had been shut up alone, without other contact, for days on end sometimes. But here? Here he was just another man thrown into the mix. It didn't matter what he knew, what he had been, he was just another man. Just a man. Hiiro shuddered at the useless feeling that washed through his scalp. 

"How long will they keep us here?" Hiiro finally asked gruffly.

"The same amount of time as the war lasts, I suppose." The English doctor told him.

"Hnn." Hiiro knew that if he didn't get out, if he didn't start feeling helpful, his mind was going to lose it and rage would be the ultimate price he would pay.

"Get used to it boy." Captain Evans nodded curtly. "We're all stuck here for God knows how long."

"She lost a lot of blood, right now she's in coma." Hiiro's ears picked up German whispers from behind him. Tuning everything else out, he listened in carefully, making sense of what they were saying.

"So she's alive?"

"Doctors said they'd be surprised if she lasted another day. The men who found her shot both her and that American pretty up good, but she got the worst of it."

"Don't they know they're supposed to hit the enemy, not our women?"

"Maybe she's Jewish? Who knows?"

"She didn't have any tattoos, or markings telling us she had been branded. She was just a woman, right?" The other German nodded.

"She was just a woman, running away with an American. Doesn't matter, they think she'll be dead soon anyway." That was when Hiiro decided to tune the conversation out. He didn't want to hear any more. It was fairly obvious to him that they had been talking about Serena. So she was barely alive, and they had taken her to be German. Shaking his head, he looked down. Chances were she'd be dead with their primitive medical technology.

"Back! Back into your cells!" A German began to corral them into the prison again. Hiiro lined up with Evans and Nicks, and the three of them filed back in. There was no struggle; there was no yelling or fighting. There was only submission. But men were not meant to be submissive for long.

)(

"Hey Kerry! You've been here for three months now!" Evans slapped Hiiro hard on the shoulder just as he was waking up. The American Captain couldn't quite seem to grasp the private who had been thrown into the cell with him and his other cellmate, Nicks, three months ago. Kerry seemed detached, as if everything he did were only the result of sleepwalking. The boy never showed any pain, any frustration, or any boredom, and most annoyingly, the boy rarely blinked. Evans could not for the life of him understand it.

When Kerry had first been thrown into the cell with them, at least he had been injured. The few and far between grunts of pain let him and Nicks know that the boy was human. But once the wound had healed, and it had healed far too rapidly according to Nicks, Kerry had become as quiet and monotonous as anyone he had ever met. And it sickened him to know that the young boy had such a grip on his emotions. 

Whenever a fight broke out amongst the men in the camp, Kerry was one of the few that never joined. Whenever food was offered, Kerry was the only one who first was wary of the food, and then ate without asking for more. Whenever the men began to recall home, Kerry was the only one never to dredge up any lost memories. Evans began to wonder if maybe the boy had snapped somewhere along the line and gone into a catatonic state, but every time he had convinced himself that had to be the reason Kerry was so odd, the private did something to prove him otherwise.

And now they had been together for three months. Three long, uneventful, boring months. Anymore of this, and Evans thought he might go insane. Well, at least Nicks was normal enough to be good company anyway.

"Evans, Kerry up yet? Guards are coming for us soon." Nicks looked back at the limp body that was Hiiro's.

"I'll get him up." Evans reassured him. Just as he went to shake Hiiro, the Perfect Soldier sat up and blinked sleep away from his eyes. Those damn dreams… haunted again by that little girl, by the puppy…

"Kerry, did you hear me? It's your three-month anniversary being chained up with us!" Evans repeated. Hiiro nodded. 

"It's June?" His eyes narrowed slightly.

"It will be, in five days or so." Nicks told them. "You know, most men don't bother to keep track of the days and months they've been in prison. Why do we?" Evans laughed.

"We need something to do."

"Hnn." Hiiro stood smoothly and took a long, hard gaze out the tiny window in their cell wall.

"What are you looking for Kerry?" Nicks asked. But Hiiro ignored him and simply gazed on, unfazed. The two older men let their eyes meet, and a silent conversation about the sanity of their cellmate was held right under Hiiro's nose.

"Almost…" Hiiro whispered to himself. Being Kerry was like being dead weight to him. It was not something he wanted to continue for much longer… pretending to be a dead man while killing himself in the process. Over the last three months he had been called 'Kerry' so much that he had almost forgotten just who he was. 

But every time he came close, his nightmares reminded him. Dreams of doctors, of machines and mobile suits, of computers and technology, of needles and drugs that he had been injected with… it all hit him like a gravitational force tugging him back into reality. It was what kept him sane, and at the same time reminded him of whom he was. He was not this dead man Kerry. But if things went on like this… he didn't know how much longer it would be until he believed he was Kerry.

"Out! Everybody out!" The guttural German accent had become a daily occurrence, and Hiiro knew what it meant. They were to be sent outside, for exercise. They wouldn't want to get sick from lack of fresh air, now would they? Snorting to himself, Hiiro followed the line of prisoners out as he was supposed to. Three months of this… and today it was no different. 

"Let's have a boxing match?" One of the British soldiers suggested. "Keep us strong, eh?"

"Alright then, a boxing match." A few others gathered around in a circle, forming the ring. The man who had originally spoken the idea stepped into the ring, and began punching the air, warming his muscles up.

"Who's up for a fight?" As the men began to fight, and more cheered for each competitor, Hiiro glared off into the trees. Suddenly he felt a hard sting in his jaw, and seconds later the pain sunk in enough to let him know what had happened. Someone had hit him. Hard. 

"Sorry, sorry Kerry, didn't mean it…" A younger American soldier began to back up slowly. From his balled fist and worried expression, Hiiro knew it had been him who had made the punch. "I meant to hit Jenkins, he ducked, and…"

"You couldn't stop your punch?" Hiiro glared. He felt as though he were going to explode. These men were insufferable! They were animals, unable to control themselves! Soldiers should be able to control their actions; they should be lethal weapons, but only when they had the need to be. And these men claimed to be soldiers! 

"Come on Kerry, it was an accident, lay off him. He didn't know I was going to duck." Jenkins patted the small American on the shoulder. 

"He should have been able to control the punch if he was a proper soldier." Hiiro sneered. The molten lava in his dull ocean blue eyes caused the men in the boxing circle to back up all at once. None of them wanted to deal with a soldier who had gone off his rocker.

"He's fine Kerry, now drop it!" Evans barked. Now Hiiro had finally had it. Damn this. He slowly, as if his feet held lead within them, took a step forward. And another, and then another. Finally he was face to face with the men in the camp. His face remained stoic, completely void of any and all emotion. But his eyes flickered in anger and rage the likes the men had never seen before.

"Worthless animals." Hiiro spat, gritting his teeth. And then he cranked his arm back, as if he were winding up to punch one of the men.

"Woke up three days ago." The German sentence rang in his ears as it echoed through the courtyard over the tense situation that was unfolding between Hiiro and the other prisoners. Hiiro instantly dropped his arm, and turned his back to the men. 

"Hit me." He finally asked them.

"What?" Nicks sputtered. He and the rest of the men had been sure that Kerry was finally about to let loose the rage he had pent up within himself. But now… he was asking to be hit? It was backwards from any instinct a soldier might want to have. The want to be hit? Absurd!

"Hit me." Hiiro growled again. "Hit me."

"Why?" Evans finally regained his voice.

"Just hit me. Hard." Hiiro muttered. Then he turned around to face the men again. 

"Wait just a moment…" Nicks began. But another soldier stopped him.

"You heard Kerry, hit him!" He yelled. Within minutes all but Nicks and Evans were pummeling Hiiro to the ground. But they weren't hitting hard enough. Hiiro wanted injuries. He wanted pain; he wanted the misery that came with bleeding and bruising. He wanted to be hurt badly enough to be thrown into the medical center, even if it was only for a moment or two for a decent doctor to patch him up.

"Break it up, break it up!" German soldiers began interfering with the fight, and Hiiro knew this was his chance. He lay limp, but kept his eyes slitted open so he could observe everything that went on around him. As the Americans and British backed away, two Germans moved in and looked at him.

"He's almost out." One of them said. "Should we leave him? We have enough trouble on our hands without treating an American pig with our supplies."

"Just let the Doctor take a look at him, we don't want him to be dead. I don't want to have to bury another body." The second German waved his gun around. 

"Alright." The first agreed. Together they picked up Hiiro's limp body, and signaled to more guards to watch the prisoners while they dealt with the injured man. 

Hiiro watched the ground go from dirt to concrete as they carried him inside for treatment. He felt them jog him around harshly as they carried him through the corridors and into a room set up with medical equipment, and he did not groan when they knocked against a particularly painful cut he had been given on his left forearm. 

"What happened here?" A man in a dirty white coat asked in German.

"Fight between the prisoners. He going to be alright?" One of the guards asked. 

"Probably. Let me get some our older supplies for him, we won't waste anything too good on him." The guards nodded, and Hiiro heard them mutter something about waiting outside the hall until the Doctor was finished with him. Then the door closed, and Hiiro knew he had been left alone in the room. Opening his eyes fully, he first surveyed the crumbling wall to his left. Trays of medical knives, tools, and needles lay in a messy order about the rest of the room, and there were no large computers with medical data running over the screens like he was used to. But when he turned to his right, things changed. *


	13. June Jitters

Chapter Thirteen: June Jitters

* "Serena." He whispered. The languid body that had been lying on the bed beside him stirred, and then Hiiro saw her muscles convulse and become rigid. Her long blonde hair had been let loose out of the knotted bun she usually wore it in, and it fanned about her on the bed and dripped to the floor in a cascade of golden honey. Her pale face was a great deal thinner than he remembered it being, and she seemed a great deal more helpless than he memory served him. Still, there was no mistaking that this woman was her, the woman whom he had traveled time with. Serena.

"Serena." He tried again. He had seen her response to his voice when she had tensed, but knew she was not coherent enough to understand him yet. "Serena!" He implored her again. She shifted again, and this time moaned.

"Don't touch me animal…" She whispered. 

"Historian!" he tried once more. This time he received a better response.

"Hiiro…" She muttered and barely turned her head in his direction. Hiiro felt the need to stand, to look her in the eye and tell her he was glad she was alive, that he had thought she had died almost three months ago. He wanted to look her in the eyes and thank her again… but if he stood, and the Doctor returned…

"Serena, wake up!" He curtly jolted her into reality.

"Hiiro," She groaned. "You're real! I thought…" He could see a tear trail from the corner of her eye and down her thin cheekbone.

"I know what you thought. I thought you were dead too. They think you're German again." He informed her, trying with all his might to soften his voice for her. He didn't want her to be upset, or think he was upset.

"What about…" She whispered. 

"Play along. It's nearly June Serena." Then the doorknob turned, and Hiiro closed his eyes once more, unable to explain what his words meant. He could only hope she had picked up what he had been thinking.

"June, June…" She muttered. The Doctor immediately dropped his things and walked over to her.

"You're awake again my dear!" He celebrated. "What about June?" Serena, though groggy, shook her head and switched to German.

"My birthday is in June…" And then her eyes fluttered shut. For a few more moments the Doctor observed her, writing notes in a journal, examining her vitals and the IVs he had attached under her skin. And then he returned his attention to Hiiro, who played that he was just waking from his concussion. 

"You'll be fine." The Doctor told him sternly as he rapidly and ungently wrapped the few cuts on Hiiro's body that were still leaking blood. Then the guards were called in, and Hiiro was escorted back to his cell.

As he was thrown in, Hiiro stumbled, but caught himself on the far wall and managed to stay on his feet. Suddenly he felt his arms being supported by both Evans and Nicks. The two men grabbed his arms and laid him down on the one bed they had, telling him to breathe and take it easy.

"You stupid son of a bitch! What were you thinking? 'Hit me'? Why'd you say that?" Evans shook Hiiro's shoulders slightly.

"Did they give you anything for pain? If this were a real POW camp, they'd have used the Red Cross supplies… but for some reason I don't think this one's even on the map."

"Just bandages." Hiiro told them, trying to think of a way to ease their concern over him. They really shouldn't care about him. He wasn't what they thought he was, and now that he knew Serena was alive and on the way to recovery, he knew they wouldn't be staying in the camp much longer.

"Just bandages? Now what was that all about son?" Nicks asked as he used his medical eye to look over Hiiro again.

"Nothing."

"You started a fight, then stopped it, and then asked them to hit you. That isn't nothing boy! Private, you answer when an officer is speaking to you!" Evans yelled.

"Yes sir." But Hiiro's heart and mind weren't listening to the two men… they were planning an escape. June was five days away, Normandy eleven. If they left soon, they would be able to make it to Cherbourg with time to spare, but now there was a new question.

Did they really want to be in Cherbourg so near the invasion? No doubt it would be hit hard with the B-17's and invading forces. In fact, the city would be caught between German occupation forces, the landing parties, and of course, the B-17's. They would be lucky to survive it if they were anywhere around it. But Hiiro knew he and Serena couldn't stay here for much longer. He was going to go stark raving mad if they did, and Serena was obviously uncomfortable in the German's possession. 

"Kerry!" Evans shouted.

"What?" Hiiro finally spat back. Pushing the officer out of his face, he stood easily and stalked over to the far corner of the tiny room.

"Boy, are you right in the mind?"

"Yes."

"You shouldn't be standing Kerry…"

"I don't give a rat's ass what I should or should not be doing." Hiiro let his temper get the better of himself for a moment. Immediately he regretted it. Only animals could not control their emotions. He was not an animal like these men were, he was better. He was certainly not human, but he was better than the human animals that they were. Finally, not knowing what else to say, Hiiro turned around and let his gaze travel to the forest that was visible through their tiny window.

"Well. I think that's the first time he's given us a decent answer." Nicks shook his head at Evans.

"You're telling me." 

)(

Serena cracked her eyes open slowly. The first time she had awoken a quick German tongue had been flapping in her face, and she hadn't been able to keep up with it. The concentration had made her dizzy, and she had immediately fallen back asleep. Then she had woken again to Preventer Zero's, Hiiro's, soft voice. The recognition had coaxed her out of her shell, and the slower words and familiar language had been refreshing to hear. But then that same Doctor had appeared in her face, with his outlandish German… ruining the moment of relaxation she had found in the middle of this insane adventure.

Now she was awake for a third time, in three months she gathered from Hiiro, and prayed to whomever was watching out for her well-being that she would be left alone to think this time. Hiiro had been so calm, but she had glimpsed red out of the corner of her eyes, she had seen the blood. They must have been recaptured, and put into a prison camp this time. But they were both alive, and from what Hiiro had said, she gathered he was working on an escape plan already. 

But she was so tired… how would she ever be able to keep up with him? The coma that she had been trapped within had not given her rest, as she thought one might. Instead she felt twice as tired as before she had been shot. Her mind could barely keep its facts straight, and she was having trouble switching from her English to German to eavesdrop on the soldiers that were coming in and out of the medical facility she was in. If Hiiro had already planned an escape, she feared he might leave her behind.

No, she decided, he would not. He could have left, she bet, at any time in the last three months if he had wanted. But he had not, he had waited for her to heal and wake up. Why would he leave her now, when she was awake enough to know what was going on? The answer was he wouldn't. Suddenly Hiiro wasn't as fearsome, as menacing, as he had once been in her eyes.

In fact, Hiiro was quite the gentleman. He had helped her when she had been sick, held the wolves at bay when they had hit on her, protected her numerous times from danger, helped her escape, and had been rather nice about the whole thing. As a matter of fact, she couldn't remember the last time he had frowned or growled at her on purpose. It was nice to feel wanted and useful, and to be treated with respect like that. Never had she ever been shown that much respect. 

"Is she awake Doctor?" German voices pounded in her ear. Serena had the urge to jump up and smack the man who had spoke, to tell him to be more polite to a wounded human being. But her fear kicked in, and she tensed on the bed, hoping they wouldn't touch her, poke her, or prod her any more. More than anything she hated being unable to control what happened to her, and here she was, lying helpless on a bed, for anyone to take advantage of.

"No, she's back asleep. I can't understand it. She's only been awake twice since we brought her in, and still, she sleeps as though she hasn't in years."

"Maybe being in a coma makes you tired?"

"How could it?" Serena didn't know, but she agreed with the other man—comas made you tired.

"Well, let's leave her alone for a while longer. How long until we ship the prisoners out on the train?" Now Serena's ears perked up, and she hoped she could stay coherent long enough to learn what this was all about.

"We're shipping the infantry out on the last train tomorrow night, and the air divisions out early the next morning. They're going to proper camps, and then that afternoon we break camp here and burn it. We're to move more inland and set up a new facility somewhere near closer to the Rhine Land."

"Good. I suppose she'll have to be up by then, but that isn't a problem yet. I'll let her sleep another day or so." The conversation between the men died, but Serena already knew enough information. They were moving the base, shifting camps, and dividing the prisoners up! How would she tell Hiiro? She didn't know… but… she was getting so… sleepy…and then she yawned for the last time and closed her heavy eyelids, unable to keep awake any longer.

"Serena." A deep voice rattled her awake in the dead of the night. Gasping silently, Serena shifted wildly on her bed until she felt a strong arm hold her down, and a hand cover her mouth. Only one person knew her name.

"Hiiro." She whispered into his hand. Quickly he removed it, and she looked up into his shaded face. He must have been kneeling on the floor beside her, and he was looking at her so intently, even through the dark, that she felt a blush rise to her pale cheeks.

"We need to move out. Are you up for running?" Was his quick question. Serena shied back a moment, and then remembered everything that Hiiro had already done for her. 

"It doesn't matter, we have to leave. Tomorrow night they're taking the infantry soldiers to a train station and shipping you to a different camp. The air divisions are going to leave the next morning, and then they're going to pack up camp and leave." She whispered. A fearful headache was coming on, but she could not lift her arms to rub her temples the way she usually did.

"I've assumed Kerry's identity…"

"Kerry from the Ivy division?" She clarified. Hiiro noticed she was having problems concentrating and frowned. Not good, if she didn't feel well enough to concentrate lying down, how would she do it running? Gently, almost tenderly, he reached a cool hand up and laid it against her feverish brow. She was so warm to the touch…

"Your hands are cold." She shivered. 

"You're warm." He contradicted her. But he did feel bad that he was causing her to be cold. He made to move his hand away, but she stopped him.

"No, leave it. It feels good." She whispered sleepily with a tired and gentle smile.

"Serena, I'll be back for you tomorrow night. You need to be dressed and ready. You need to be awake. Can you do that for me?" He asked her, his voice wavering just a little with sympathy. He knew how tired comas could leave a person; simply exhausted. 

"Alright…" But he knew she was already asleep. Running his hand down her face, he brushed her blonde bags out of her shut eyes and then carefully stood, not wanting to disturb her.

Quietly Hiiro slipped back through the halls of the camp, careful not to be caught by any of the guards, and then back into his own cell. Shutting the door and praying it didn't creak, he then looked at Evans and Nicks, who were fast asleep. 

It had been so easy to unhinge the door and slip out; he didn't know why he hadn't done it sooner. Of course, Hiiro knew all about the tunnels that soldiers had tried to dig to get out of the prison, but in his eyes, it seemed a foolish waste of time. Cave-ins, time wasted, not enough room… all disadvantages of digging a way out. Not to mention, the German soldiers were always looking for tunnels and roads out of the prisons—they never bothered to look around them enough to catch a shadow like Hiiro slipping in and out around them.

The problem was, Serena was not nearly as experienced with slipping in and out of places, and she was certainly not in the best shape to learn how by attempting it. In fact, she could possibly be shot if she was caught sneaking around outdoors and no one stopped to look at whom they were shooting at first. He hoped that wouldn't happen though. Then it would be his fault; he would be responsible for her death, again. Wait. Wasn't she responsible for it no matter what he did? 

Hiiro distinctly remembered telling her, warning her, about the dangers of time traveling and what would happen if everything went wrong. And she had still made the decision to come along for the ride. That made her responsible for anything that happened to her here. But try as he might, Hiiro could not banish the guilty feeling that rotted his stomach through for not better caring for someone weaker and more helpless than himself. 

Not that Serena was helpless, no, she wasn't completely helpless anyway. In fact, she was rather ingenious for surviving this long. Hiiro shook his head trying to clear out his insane rambling thoughts, and then shut his eyes. Sleep… *


	14. The Great Escape

Chapter Fourteen: The Great Escape

*It was unusually early the next morning when the German guards came around the cells and awoke the men for breakfast. In fact, it was unusual in itself that they had bothered to wake them at all. Ordinarily the men were allowed to do whatever they wished until their one hour for recreation outside. But it was apparent to all the people in the camp that it was going to be no ordinary day. There was a feeling of anticipation in the German soldier's attitudes, and noises from outside gave rise to suspicion that something highly irregular was about to take place.

By late afternoon it was very obvious that the men were not going to be given their hour outside for recreation at all, and the uncharacteristic schedule change threw them all for a loop. They became antsy, irritable, and the noises that had not stopped echoing outside since the early morning hours were not helping to make the situation any better.

"What do you think they're doing out there Evans?"

"Don't know. They must be moving something heavy though, there's an awful lot of yelling going on out there. Wish I understood German." 

"You know, back in high school they gave us a choice: French, Spanish, or German. I chose French. Of course, I thought coming to France during the war I would get some use out of it, but the almost from the minute I got here, I've been surrounded by nothing but Germans. French hasn't helped me a lick."

"Nicks, you're a character. I thought the same thing! Take French; it's the easy way out. Boy was I ever wrong!" Both Evans and Nicks began to laugh over their childhood memories, and nostalgia became the ambiance of the cell.

"Still. I would give anything to know what's going on out there. We've been here five months now, and nothing like this has happened yet." Nicks sighed wistfully and tried once again to get a peak at whatever was happening outside.

"Anything?" Hiiro asked quietly from his corner in the dark. From the expression on both men's faces, it was obvious that neither had remembered he was there, and if they had, they certainly hadn't thought he was awake.

"Why'd you say that?" Evans asked, a small smirk playing on his dry lips. "You suddenly deciding that we're good enough to speak to?"

"I need a warm coat. It just so happens Nicks has one of the only ones available." Hiiro clipped. 

"What'll you give me for the coat?" Asked the English doctor, obviously as highly entertained by this 'new' Kerry as Evans was.

"You said you'd give anything to know what the Germans were saying." Hiiro glanced at the window.

"Let me get this straight." Evans narrowed his eyes. "You've been here for three months with us, and just _now_ you're telling us you understand German? Soldier, you should have informed your superior officer of something with this kind of ramifications immediately!" 

"Superior?" Hiiro glared darkly at the man. "I have no superior officer."

"That's ridiculous. Everyone answers to a superior!" Nicks joined Evans in his lecture. "How could you possibly get through basic without learning how to take orders, follow command, and salute?"

"Do you want to know what they're saying, or not?"

"No! I want to know just what the hell is going through that head of yours Private! How dare you insult a superior officer! Insubordination! When we get back, I'm having you court-martialed!"

"Very well. Have me court-martialed." Hiiro nodded. Inwardly he smirked. They would court-martial a dead man—by the time they returned to the states, he and Serena would be long gone, identities changed and altered once more.

"Of all the—"

"Evans, let it go!" Nicks finally stopped their cellmate from losing his cool. "Look here Kerry. If you can tell us what's going on, I'll give you the coat." Now Hiiro smirked. He didn't even have to listen to the men outside thanks to Serena's keen hearing; he already knew what was happening.

"They're moving farther inland. Tonight they ship the infantrymen out on a cargo train, tomorrow morning the air forces go out. They're sending you to real POW camps, this one was only temporary." He paused, and then opened his mouth once more. "They'll be separating the officers from regulars as well."

"They're sending 'us'? What about you? You're not coming?" Evans smirked as Nicks folded his coat and began to pass it to Hiiro. As Hiiro grabbed the coat, he stopped.

"We'll see." Something in his voice, in his tone, made both Evans and Nicks look twice at the boy in front of them. 

They saw a hardened soldier, a man, not a boy. They saw messy brown hair, the same as it had been when he had arrived. They saw pallid skin, them same as it had been when he had arrived. They saw thin lips drawn into the constant frown that had been his characteristic trait, and they saw his set jaw and chin, stubborn as ever. But beneath that, they saw the heart of a man that no one, though they may try, would be able to ever hold imprisoned for long. 

"Got an escape planned Kerry?" Hiiro looked at the sun, which was beginning to now glint over the horizon and set into the distance. They would be moving the infantrymen out within the hour.

"Kerry?" Hiiro asked.

"You, _Kerry_. Are you planning something foolhardy?" This time Evans broke into a cynical smile.

"I never plan anything foolhardy." Hiiro glared, but remained stoic. "Dangerous, yes. Suicidal, yes. Never foolhardy." Now no one in the cell was smiling. In the dying light, both Evans and Nicks backed up, farther away from their third cellmate. "I was trained not to take foolhardy risks—they often cause death, in most cases, my own. In this case, I am not looking out solely for myself, therefore, nothing I do can be foolhardy in any way."

"Trained that way?" Nicks whispered. 

"Who trained you? The CIA? The FBI?" Evans added.

"If I told you that, I would have to kill you." Hiiro kept his voice very even. In fact, he _felt_ very even. It was an apathetic, uncaring feeling that coursed through his veins as he spoke his monotonous words. He did not feel guilty for frightening these men, nor was he altogether worried about telling them too much about himself. Even if he did, who would believe them? He really felt rather passive about the entire situation that was unfolding.

"Kill us?" Nicks asked. Hiiro grunted.

"Kerry, you need help. You need to see a psychiatrist about this…" Evans snorted.

"My name is not Kerry. The man known as Private Kerry was shot by German soldiers three months ago when his plane was shot down over eighty miles south from here. I assumed his identity when I was captured, but I am not him." The American and Englishman were speechless to the point of sheer terror. Who the hell was this man!

"Who are you?" Evans finally sputtered.

"Hiiro Yui." Hiiro nodded. At that moment, a great commotion went up through the camp, and there was screaming and yelling echoing through the concrete walls. Loud bangs and German shouting also joined the din, trying to maintain order though the chaos that was arising. 

"What's going on?" Nicks asked, briefly taking his eyes from Hiiro's form and aiming them towards the window.

"The infantrymen are being moved." Hiiro nodded. He saw Nicks' eyes land back on him, and knew it was time. Putting the coat he had just obtained on, he moved to the heavy iron door and looked meticulously at it.

"What do you think you're going to do? Just open the door and leave?" Evans choked out a bitter laugh. Hiiro gave him a sideways glance, and then reached behind him. From a black bag slung underneath his coat neither Evans nor Nicks had ever seen before he pulled out a handgun. Both other men gasped. 

"Where'd you get that!" Nicks yelped.

"Stole it." Hiiro grunted. Then he handed it to Evans. "The clip is new." In his other hand, he produced a set of keys. These he handed to Nicks, who took them reverently. "I assume you can figure out what those are for." 

"You really are planning an escape!" Nicks breathed. 

"My partner and I need to get out of here." Hiiro nodded.

"Partner?" Evans asked. "You never talk to anyone in the camp! You can't possibly have a partner!"

"I told you when I first got here. I was captured with a woman."

"A German woman!" Nicks accused.

"As far as the Germans know." Hiiro pointed out blankly. Then he turned his attention back to the door and easily slipped the hinges off the wall. Without so much as another word to the men whom had been his cellmates for the last three months, Hiiro slipped out into the corridors and ran off as fast as his feet could carry him.

"He's insane!" Nicks whispered. "He won't make it to the medical wing, let alone make it out, especially with a woman who was supposed to have been _dead_ for the last three months."

"You know," Evans said thoughtfully looking at the gun Hiiro had handed him, "I think he will. In fact, I'll even place a bet on it. My life says he escapes—with his 'partner'. Only a crazy man could pull it off."

)(

Serena lay underneath her covers, cold and ill at ease. She had been awake for the last half an hour or so—there had been a loud bang, and then yelling and screaming right outside her window that had awoken her from her sleepy state. But when she realized that the sun was almost down, her eyes opened wide and she sat up straight. 

Hiiro had said he would be back tonight, that they would be breaking out tonight. But here it was, nighttime, and she was still lying around in bed, sleeping and dozing like no tomorrow! Well, she wasn't about to let all of the planning go to waste! So she quickly shot up and looked around the room for something to wear. 

In a closet across from her bed she could see a few old American army outfits. They would be perfect—nice and warm, durable clothes for an escape. Slipping out of her bed, she hissed as the chilly concrete ground froze her bare feet. Slowly but with a sure determination she made her way over to them… until she had found a small problem.

While she had been in coma, the Doctors had needed to find a way to feed her. Since she hadn't been able to eat on her own, they had managed to feed her intravenously instead. There were needles and wires attached to her in every which way, liquid pumping down through the small tubes and into her bloodstream. There was no way she could pull those out! She shivered in disgust and slight fear of herself. Well, that ruled out all thoughts of moving very far; not to mention her ability to put the clothes on anyway, and had left her feeling completely helpless.

All she could do was lay in her stark and stiff bed, staring at the clothes she wished she could reach and then put on, all while knowing Hiiro was possibly on his way to get her, and that they were already on a tight time schedule as it was. But there was no way in _hell_ she was pulling those needles out on her own!

Suddenly the door creaked open, and a sliver of light appeared in the darkened room. She shut her eyes tightly, hoping and praying it wasn't another doctor. Having one in the room would ruin everything!

"Serena." The door opened wider, then shut quickly and she heard it lock. Shooting straight up in bed, she gasped.

"Hiiro!"

"Are you dressed?" He asked careful not to raise his voice very loudly.

"No!" She whimpered. "Hiiro, I know this sounds bad…but there are these needles and wires, and…" But she couldn't say any more. It really was too embarrassing. She was able to take care of herself! She wasn't helpless. She just didn't like needles—more than she didn't like other people touching her she didn't like needles.

"Needles?" Hiiro frowned in the dark, knowing she couldn't see him. And then he grinned for the first time in what seemed like years. She was afraid of needles! "Stay still, I'll remove them. Do you have clothes to change into?"

"There's a closet across from the bed with some old army uniforms…" She shuddered as Hiiro's large, cold hand clamped down on her arm gently. Involuntarily she flinched and pulled away.

"I'm not going to hurt you Serena." Hiiro told her under his breath, trying to sooth her as he pulled the needles from her skin. 

"Okay." She whispered, her voice cracking. He wasn't hurting her yet anyway… And he hadn't hurt her so far during the whole trip either… In fact, she didn't mind all that much that Hiiro was touching her when she was so vulnerable, something she found to be both very comforting and very disturbing.

"Alright." Hiiro said, pulling away. He rather missed the warmth she had emanated. "The closet is across from the bed?" He asked. 

"Yes." He nodded and stepped across. After a brief shuffle of cloth, he pulled out what he thought was a small pair of pants and a shirt and flung them to her on the bed. He heard more movement, and within another minute she announced she was dressed. 

"Good." Hiiro paused, and then removed the coat he had pawned from Nicks. "Here, it's cold outside." He felt her delicately grab onto the cloth of the jacket, as if testing the cloth, and then refuse it.

"You'll be cold."

"I'm used to it. You, on the other hand, are still making a recovery from a serious injury." He offered it to her again, and this time she accepted it with a firm grasp.

"Thank you."

"Hnn." Taking her hand, he pulled her out of the medical room, and then slipped down the halls. It seemed like forever until Hiiro led her to a door that led to outside.

"Do you know where we are?" She asked.

"This is the training yard." He told her softly. "The soldiers are busy with loading the infantrymen, and there should be a small rebellion breaking out about now in the air forces wing." Seeing Serena's curious side-glance, Hiiro had to smile. "I stole a gun and a set of keys and gave them to a few choice prisoners."

"You've been busy." Serena chirped quietly.

"For three months I've been idle." He countered. Serena hung her head.

"I'm sorry I made you wait for me to get better." She felt Hiiro shrug through their clasped hands. 

"Don't worry." A few soldiers running by cut off their conversation, and Hiiro decided they had been taking too many chances. He speed their pace up, and soon they had reached the barbwire fences. Hiiro stopped short and grabbed Serena by she shoulders.

"I need your hands." He told her. When she held them out, he wrapped them in shreds made from thick army uniform, She watched as he did the same to his own hands, and then turned back to her. "Know how to climb a fence?" 

"I'll figure it out." She nodded, grabbing the fence and hoisting herself up. Through the cloth wraps over her hand she could feel the sharp, twisted metal digging into her delicate hands, but said nothing. Hiiro had already scaled the fence and was on the other side by the time she reached the top. 

"Jump." He advised. The shouting at the camp had lessened, which was a bad sign. Soon there would be a head count, and it would be known he was missing. And then… a full out search would commence. They had to be hidden away, far away, before something like that began, otherwise recapture and execution were the only destiny left for them.

"Jump…" Serena squeaked.

"Jump, now." He ordered. Instantly she let go of the fence, more in shock of his gruff voice than out of meaning to. Two strong arms caught her and swung her to her feet moments later. Still, Serena stood, hunched over, with her eyes tightly shut, praying. "Historian." Hiiro prodded her. "You're fine." Serena opened one eye, then the other. She really _was_ all right!

"Okay." She nodded. And then they took off, racing through the forest. Their only chance was to run as far and as fast as they could. *


	15. A Noble Idea

Chapter Fifteen: A Noble Idea

*"Duo, how could you!" Trowa moaned. 

"I didn't realize it! I'm sorry! Did you think I meant to screw up? Did you think I wanted to ruin this for Hiiro? He was hell bent on getting to the fifties… all I ever wanted was for the Perfect Soldier to be happy, to relax. If I had _meant_ to screw up, I would have put him in the sixties, or the seventies, and made him either a hippie or a disco king! I swear it was an accident!" Duo ranted. His face was obviously pained with an intense sense of guilt.

"It's okay Duo, we understand it was an accident." Hilde cradled him in her arms. But Duo shoved her off and stood, stalking off to his room and slamming the door shut. "I'm going to go in after him." Hilde told the rest of the group as they watched their usually cheerful partner struggle with his mistake.

"It's partially my fault." Quatre sighed. "I didn't even _think_ about building a way to return the people home once they had traveled time at all. I should have thought of all of the possibilities, all of the scenarios. But I didn't even see such a key aspect of time travel—the return method! We don't even know if it worked… for all we know, Hiiro and that woman were killed trying to go somewhere through time. This was just a mistake in general."

"Don't say that Quat dear heart. You didn't know. No one could have known."

"Three months they've been out there! _Three!_"

"And like I said Quat, no one could have known!" Dorothy tried in vain to sooth Quatre. But the blonde followed Duo's example and stood to leave, Dorothy following close behind.

"We'll dismantle the machine Monday morning, when Quatre and Duo have calmed down enough to help. They'll want to be a part of it." Trowa told everyone else who was still sitting around the table. Wufei nodded, Sally heaved a sigh, and Catherine rubbed her arms. 

"What do you say we set it right, just for the weekend? At least we can think that Hiiro and Serena somehow got to see the fifties." She suggested. Trowa nodded. 

"Alright Cathy."

"A noble idea." Wufei tipped his head in acknowledgement, and Sally grinned slightly.

"To Hiiro and Serena, may they live happily ever after in the fifties, at least in spirit!" She cheered through blurry eyes. Trowa punched into the machine 1954, and for a moment they stood still in memory of their friends. Then they shut the lights off and walked out of the room, knowing that this would be the last weekend they could ever claim they had a time machine.

)(

Suddenly and without warning, Hiiro and Serena were slammed together with a large amount of force. Dimply both were aware that around them the world was spinning, but out of pure shock neither made any attempt to do anything. Just as quickly as they had been jolted together, they began to slow down an in immense rate, only long enough to pause and take a good look around themselves. No longer was there a lush green forest around them—only a strange, empty space with millions of light flashes twinkling on and off rapidly. 

Just as it seemed their ride was over, they were hit with a strong acceleration again. As they spun, gravity called them, ripping and pulling at them, threatening to rip them into shreds if they let it get a hold of them. Hiiro made as strong an effort as possible to get his bearings and grab onto Serena, who was shrieking in silent terror. Pulling her towards him, he held onto her tight, clasping her to his chest and trying to protect her as best he could from forces he could not see. As they spun, they only became dizzier and completely nauseous together. Finally they were thrown, almost as if they had been spat, into a sunny pine forest from the blacked hole they had been traveling through.

Hiiro slowly groaned, and felt Serena roll herself off of his chest and onto the ground beside him. Once his stomach had settled, he managed to pick himself up far enough off of the ground so he could survey his surroundings. By the time his vision had cleared, he had a fleeting thought—where had the soldiers gone? He and Serena must have disappeared just as they had opened fire on them. Pure luck that they had suddenly been transported away from the area. 

Then again, luck was only skill properly applied. There had to be some reason they had simply, _teleported_, if that was even what it really was. His ears picked up the sound of Serena getting sick, and he looked over in concern.

"Serena?" The woman was on all fours, what little gruel she had eaten in the German base was being regurgitated onto the forest floor. Finally she was able to stop gagging and sit up, breathing heavily and wiping her forehead. "Sick?"

"I don't usually get sick." She informed him crossly. "But that time traveling gravity…"

"We did jump time again then, didn't we?" Hiiro cut her off. She nodded.

"I'm never that sick unless we jump time."

"We've only jumped twice, how do you know it was that and not your injuries? Comas can affect even your constitution if you've been in them long enough, which you have."

"No, it was time travel. That gravity feeling, the feeling that you're so heavy that even though you're heaving your chest up and down you can't breathe, the feeling like you're going to be flattened permanently against nothing in an abyss. I will never forget that feeling. We definitely jumped time." She shuddered, but kept her head bent down low.

"We just missed becoming target practice. Luck." He muttered.

"Luck is only skill properly applied. Something else must have affected us." Despite all of his efforts to retain his Perfect Soldier persona, Hiiro grinned at her words. They somehow fit all too perfectly.

"What year are we in?"

"Until we get to some form of civilization, I'll have no idea. We're obviously still in France, in the same forest we were as when we were first transported. Recognized the trees?"

"We're back to square one." Hiiro grumbled. 

"It appears that way." Serena shook her head. 

"Let's go. North again? Towards the Channel?"

"Or we could go northeast. The largest city in France should only be a few days or so away walking, if you set our pace. And I don't believe we'll have any more problems with soldiers from wars."

"Knowing our properly applied skill, we're probably going to get trapped behind enemy lines in World War One." Hiiro muttered. Serena smiled lightly.

"You have a sense of humor."

"Only after the situation is so bizarre that there's nothing left to do." He explained. Serena lightly giggled, and he stopped to look at her. "You can laugh."

"Don't tell." She looked at him seriously. "I only laugh when the situation is so atypical that there's nothing left to do."

"Understood." Hiiro nodded, knowing full well what she meant. "Don't tell on my sense of humor."

"Understood." Serena smiled lightly, and Hiiro smirked. They stalked on, quite unsure of their direction, but both somehow loving the situation they had been thrown into more and more. Everything about it was so unusual that both couldn't help but wonder what the other would do next to surprise them. 

Soon they reached a large clearing in the dense forest, and over a small ridge, Hiiro had spotted a small village. He had seen no warplanes, no soldiers or army trucks, but figured it was better to be safe than sorry and loaded his gun with a brand new clip.

"I can't believe you still have your bag. I lost mine when those Germans kidnapped me." Serena softly told him.

"I left my bag beside yours, and when you were kidnapped the first time, I grabbed them both. Then when we were captured the second time, I made sure to hide them and then returned for them when I learned you were awake. _Both_ of them." Serena looked at him in awe at his words.

"You didn't!" She squeaked. 

"I did." He nodded, bending his head so his hair would shade his eyes from her vision. "I didn't know if you had history books in it or not, and I wasn't about to let the Germans get their hands on that kind of knowledge. It's not heavy." Then he paused, and added: "Besides, I didn't know what else you might want that was in it."

"Thank you." Serena replied softly, still looking at him with great appreciation out of the corner of her eye. "Thank you so much. Are you sure it's not too heavy?"

"Yes." He shifted uncomfortably. He was happy she was pleased, but unused to the praise he was getting. It was almost, nice. They walked in companionable silence until they reached the village. 

When they finally arrived, Hiiro found the occupants spoke French, and while he looked for someone with directions to a city Serena had said was called Paris, she evaluated the time they had been thrown into. And suddenly, she found it hard to breathe. Quickly Serena found and interrupted Hiiro and the man whom he had been speaking to.

"That man _was_ willing to give us a ride to Paris, for free. He's going that way anyway." Hiiro told her, slightly annoyed.

"The date. It's May twenty-eighth."

"Yes." He began to become cross.

"May twenty-eighth, 1954. Hiiro, this is the fifties. This is what we originally came for!" Hiiro looked at her, unsure of whether she was serious or not. But the heated and excited expression that lingered on her face and deep within her electric blue eyes solved his questions.

"It is. We're here…" He muttered, disbelieving and letting it sink in all at the same time. "But we're in France."

"Where did you want to be Hiiro?" Serena asked quietly.

"United States."

"Paris has an international airport. Planes aren't big inventions for commercial use just yet, but I'm sure we can find someone willing…"

"Really?" His eyes looked so very hopeful that Serena smiled, and then brightly laughed. 

"Really. Come on, let's see if we can't catch that man for his free ride." And the two took off after the man that was waiting close by for Hiiro's answer to his offer. 

As they stepped off the airplane and into the airport, both soldier and historian gasped to themselves and opened their eyes larger, hoping to reassure themselves that what they saw was real. The building in front of them seemed too good to be true, and the smiling faces of the people laughing and chatting around them were a drastic change from the somber mood that had been overbearing in the forties.

Serena could hardly believe it. This was it. They were in the nineteen fifties! There was so much to think about, it was mind-boggling. But the most prominent thought that haunted her thoughts had to be why. She knew why she was there, but why had Hiiro wanted to come here so badly? She had always assumed he had had a reason, but now that they had finally arrived at their destination, she wondered what his motives really were. 

Hiiro took in a deep breath of air and savored every second of it running in through his mouth and nostrils, filling his lungs to the maximum capacity, and then slowly exhaled it, not wanting to waste any of the sweet tasting freedom he had finally found. So long had he dreamed of this very moment. So long had he kept this hidden within himself, and now he could finally, at long last, have what he had wanted more than anything since he had been born.

"Sir? May I take your bag sir?" A porter approached them and offered to carry Hiiro's black bag. Hiiro's peaceful state of mind was shattered instantly, and he glared harshly and unforgiving at the man who had interrupted him. "Sorry…" The porter stammered and backed away slowly.

Serena could hardly believe that the man before her was the same as the one whom had saved her from a German base. He had been acting so much more… well; she hated to be cliché, but _human_, since they had gone through the ordeal, and now… He acted as if nothing had changed. He had slipped back into soldier mode, and she trembled at the thought of being trapped in a small, confined space with him. Earth was too constricting some times, it really was.

"Let's go." He robotically announced and began walking, without checking to see if she would begin following him.

"Okay." Serena nodded meekly. What could she do? History was supposed to be a way to study the development of humanity throughout the ages, but in all of her books, documentaries, and biographies she had never come across a character with such demons as this man. But history always repeated itself; surely there must have been an original man Hiiro had been copied from?

"We need a hotel Serena." Hiiro told her shortly. Glancing at her through the corner of his eye, he felt that remote guilt panging at him again. He knew that he had been rough with her since they had gotten off of the plane, but to have finally achieved something after dreaming of it for so long, and then have the moment ruined? Of course he was a little touchy about it!

"Call a porter and ask him to catch us a taxi. The driver will know of one." She softly explained. Hiiro began to hit himself internally. He had just sent a porter away! Grumbling under his breath, Hiiro poked the nearest man in uniform and asked him to call a taxi. Within seconds a yellow cab drove up to the curb where Hiiro and Serena were standing, and they slipped in.

"A hotel." Hiiro told the driver.

"A cheaper hotel." Serena added on. She knew how much money she had, but wanted to make sure it lasted as long as it could. Hiiro grimaced at her stinginess, but she shrugged it away easily. If he could become so cold in an instant, so could she. In fact, that was one thing she was good at. *

~~~They finally made it! Yey! Much love, Vixen~~~


	16. Welcome to the Simple Life

Chapter Sixteen: Welcome to the Simple Life

*"Serena…" Hiiro cleared his throat as they settled into the back of the taxicab. "We'll need some new clothes." He knew it seemed a foolish thing to say, but it was true. He was still dressed in a ragged mix of a German army uniform and an American one. He hadn't shaved in nearly two weeks, and hadn't showered in three. He felt disgusting, and since there was no reason he shouldn't be able to get clean, he wanted to right away.

And, he thought, besides. She didn't look much better than he did. Her hair was dirty and stringy, unwashed for a great deal longer than his. She had been asleep for three months and unable to wash. At least he had been given one shower every four weeks. Not to mention, she still had on the American camouflage pants and the oversized gray jacket he had pawned from Nicks. They stood out like sore thumbs in a world of clean cut and wholesome perfection.

Serena looked up, analyzing his face and voice. His words had been so much softer that time, his face not as harsh and angled. But she could read in his eyes that he was tired and felt dirty. She knew the feeling well—she definitely empathized with him now.

"Alright." She nodded. "Once we've gotten a room, we'll shop." Serena only allowed her voice to lighten up in tone slightly however. She was still a little hurt that he had been so gruff lately. Still, she also knew that the fact that he had changed his tone at all had been his apology for his poor behavior.

They pulled up at a smaller hotel, a motel really, and Hiiro stepped out if the car as quickly as possible. Serena followed him out at a slower rate, still not quite sure she trusted Hiiro enough to get out as quickly as he had. She knew it was a foolish endeavor, but felt like humoring herself for a while. 

"Uh, sir? The money? It's seven fifty for the ride." The taxi driver told them in a rough, smart Alec slur. Hiiro glared blankly, and Serena suddenly remembered. 

"Oh!" She inhaled sharply. "Right. Hiiro, my wallet is in my bag." She looked at him pointedly, which Hiiro took as a message to dig into his own black bad and pull hers out. Then he forked over the canvas bag and let Serena do her own digging within the bag. The taxi driver, who had been waiting impatiently, started frowning more often.

"Come on! This isn't a charity drive you know." The man snuffed. Serena nodded, and Hiiro frowned.

"Take your time Serena." He warned her. Then he sent a chilling glare at the cabbie, which took the hint and left well enough alone. Serena had stopped in mid-dig to let Hiiro's words sink in, and once they had, she speed up her hunt— just in case. Finally she fumbled out a wallet, and from the wallet she pulled four pieces of paper, one with a five on it, the other three with ones.

"Keep the change." She nodded to him as she handed him the bills.

"Thanks." The man called as he took the money and squealed his tires as he took off. Hiiro eyed the wallet Serena still clutched in her hand.

"You'll have to teach me their monetary system."

"Okay." She bowed her head. Hiiro shifted where he stood, and then the two both turned and headed in towards the main desk without another word. 

"One room, two beds." Hiiro told the woman behind the front desk. She looked up and smiled. 

"Of course sir. Do you mind what floor you and your wife stay on?"

"Wife?" Hiiro muttered, wholly unready for the hostess's question. But Serena had been armed.

"No, but please, non-smoking?" Hiiro eyed the petite blonde beside him. He opened his mouth, as if to protest, and then shut it just as quickly. Had she known they would be asked that? Non-smoking? _Wife_? She was going to get an ear full for this! Historians! They were all troublemakers! His mind made the very biased opinion quickly, before he realized that Serena happened to be the only historian he had ever met. But once he had the realization, he still remained by his original belief—though he knew it was foolish.

"Right. Here you go sir, room 330. The elevator is to your right." Hiiro nodded, still in a daze, and grabbed the key roughly from the woman's hand. Serena trailed after him, not caring to look back at the appalled face that the woman behind the desk wore.

The elevator ride had been in silence, both parties fully ignoring each other with all their willpower. However, once they arrived at the door with their room number nailed to it, they knew it could not stay that way. Serena knew Hiiro was about to peg her with questions, and Hiiro knew Serena was about to give him some answers.

"Sit." He commanded. "Wife?"

"The fifties are a very socially conscious decade. The woman at the desk probably wouldn't have said anything different even if we had obviously been something other than a married couple."

"We _are_ obviously something other than a married couple." He glared and looked out the window. Then he stopped, and ran his hand through his hair. "Point taken."

"Non-smoking. A lot of people in the fifties thought smoking was a mark of class, or at least a way of rebelling. And I don't like the smell personally." Serena answered without being asked. 

"Understood." Hiiro nodded. He would forgo telling her that the smell of cigarette smoke made him sneeze. "And money." Serena nodded. 

"There are paper dollars, and coins." Taking her wallet back out, she laid out on the table four bills. "They are worth what they say: twenty, ten, two, and one. The coins, however, are a bit trickier. Largest is a quarter, four create one dollar."

"Hence the title 'quarter'." Hiiro smirked. Serena nodded.

"Then the dime, worth ten cents, the nickel, five cents, and the penny, one cent. Enough of any of the coins to add up to a hundred and you have a dollar."

"Understood. Simple."

"They were simple people in the fifties." She remarked gently. Hiiro nodded. 

"Simple." His gaze traveled out over the skies, which were a brilliant shade of blue. In fact, the color rather reminded him of Serena's eyes. 

"What now?" Serena finally had the courage to ask. She was sitting on one of the twin-sized beds they had been given, watching Hiiro like a hawk. 

"We can take a short break." Hiiro told her without his eyes leaving the view. "I, we, need to clean up, and we need to fit in." Finally he dragged himself away from the window, and looked at him. "Showers are the same?"

"Everything in here should be familiar, even if it is a downgrade from what you're used to." She whispered. He nodded in response, and walked through the bathroom door, shutting and locking it behind him.

For a moment Serena stood still. What was it about that man made her skin crawl and her heartbeat speed up at the same time? It was as if he had an aura that simply drew her to him, like a moth from a flame. She knew she should be upset with his mood swings, but she couldn't help but not care every time he spoke. He was like a child, asking her questions and wanting explanations, but like a man in that he wanted to have everything done his way. What did he want from her? What did he want from the fifties? What could a former soldier, especially one such as himself, possibly stand to gain from traveling to the past like this?

Knowing that her question would most likely only be answered in time, Serena finally shrugged and opened her bag. Pouring the contents onto the bed beside her, she looked it over and sighed. With her she had, indeed brought a history book, but it was a very small and compact one. The majority of the bag's space had been taken up by the dress she had brought—a nineteen fifties dress she had borrowed from one of the mannequins in the museum, complete with the ruffled and lacy petty coats that had been so popular in the day. Once Hiiro was out of his shower, she would take one of her own and then put the dress on. 

Just then Serena noticed how much her feet ached. And how much her hands stung from the cuts she had received climbing the barbwire. And how every single noise in the room seemed to amplify a hundred fold until the ringing made her eyes pop and head pound. She didn't feel very well…

Lying down on the bed, she carefully rested her eyes. Just rested. That way, when Hiiro finished with his shower, she would know instantly and be ready to rush in and take her own. But the harder she tried to fight the overpowering urge to fall asleep, the heavier her eyelids grew, until she finally lost consciousness and nodded off.

When Hiiro stepped out of the shower, he quickly dried off and looked at himself in the mirror disapprovingly. Taking the razor he had brought, and the tiny bar of soap provided by the hotel, he lathered up and begun to shave the beard that had begun to grow. As his skin reappeared beneath the soapsuds, he smiled lightly. 

Almost back to his old self again. All he needed was a clean set of clothes, and he would be good as new. The only thing he mourned the loss of was his Preventer's jacket from the Eve Wars. He had loved that jacket—it had held so many memories of his liberation from the war efforts. It had made him feel free, simply wearing it. But it was long gone by now, burned in ashes and buried under rubble in a time that had passed long ago. 

Pulling his pants back on, he opened the bathroom door. A cloud of steam rose around him as it filtered into the colder air of the bedroom and he involuntarily shivered. Now where had Serena gone? Looking around, he knotted his eyes in confusion briefly, and then raised his eyebrows when he finally spied her. 

There she lay, meek and homily as ever, asleep on the bed. Her things were spread out around her on the bed, and she looked as though she hadn't meant to fall asleep. Her hair was pulled back behind her, but a few greasy stands had managed to work their way out to frame her dirt-smeared face. Her hands still had the army cloth wrapped around them, and he could see traces of dried blood caked underneath them. Blood? When had she cut herself? She hadn't said anything to him! 

As if she had seen his sudden look of worry and frustration, Serena mumbled an indistinct something and curled herself up into a fetal position on the bed. And then Hiiro chuckled. He simply opened his mouth and let the sounds float carelessly from the back of his throat, over his tongue, and into the room. She was probably one of the ugliest sights he had ever seen, laying in dirty army clothes, with dirt caked all over her, a giant coat hiding any curves he knew she did have, and her greasy hair tangled and sticking out every which way. 

Yes, the ugliest. And yet, the most endearing. The way her face was smooth of any worry wrinkles, the way her pale pink lips curved into a tiny smile, the way she stay so still and peaceful… Hiiro could feel his heart thumping as he watched her. It was not so much so that he found her drop dead gorgeous; the reality was quite the contrary. But it was that he knew she could _be_ drop dead gorgeous if she so chose to, and she did not. She had an innocent quality about her that rang true, while at the same time she shared his pessimistic views on life and humanity. And that, to him, was far more beautiful than anything or anyone else he had ever seen or met.

Shaking his head slightly and still chuckling at life's irony, Hiiro moved towards the bed and very gently reached over to the sleeping woman. "Serena?" He coaxed her. "You can take the shower now." He watched her groggily sit up and blink, trying to remember what had been happening before she had gone to sleep.

"Shower?" She muttered.

"You can a take a shower now." He repeated. She nodded, and then let her head fall back to the pillow, shutting her eyes once more. Shaking his head at her actions, Hiiro sighed. Well, he could follow her example. Hiiro moved around her bed to the second, unoccupied one and flopped down on the soft mattress. Burying his head into the pillow, he turned over and shut his eyes, hoping for a dreamless sleep to overtake him. 

The next time Serena opened her eyes, she had to squint. A bright stream of sunlight was piercing through the crack in the curtains and landing directly on her face. So much for sleep! She sighed. Well, honestly? She was surprised she had even been able to sleep at all. She had felt sure Hiiro would wake her for the shower… Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she looked around the room. 

The majority of it was still shrouded in the dark, regardless of the fact that it was close to seven thirty in the morning according to the vintage clock on the wall across from her. Quickly she noticed that Hiiro was asleep in the bed next to hers, his face completely relaxed for the first time since she had met him. It was nice to see he was getting sleep. She knew that his time as a POW must not have been the easiest lifestyle change to make, and that he probably hadn't slept well for the last three months.

God she smelled! Wrinkling her nose at her own stench, she realized that she didn't have to sit and do nothing about it; she could take a decent shower! As quickly as she could move without making noise, Serena hopped off the bed and made her way into the bathroom. Shutting the door carefully, so as not to wake her sleeping partner, she breathed a sigh and smiled. This was the first time in the last three months she had had a little bit of quiet time to herself. It was nice not to have to worry about being discovered by German soldiers, to be worried about how to escape or survive. 

The relief she felt as being alive was the strongest feeling she had ever experienced. Suddenly her throat choked up, and her eyes throbbed with dry tears. Her smile became a frown, and she sat on the toilet as her first sob escaped her dry lips. Why was she crying? She wasn't hurt, or angry, or sad. She was just… she felt like crying. She was happy that she was alive, but the tears kept coming. What sort of emotion was this? What in human nature dictated that when you were happy you should cry like you weren't? Unable to make head or tail of her feelings, she only cried harder. 

"You sick?" Hiiro asked darkly from the door. Serena looked down at the tiled floor and shook her head. "Injured?" She continued to shake her head. Hiiro was at a loss. Finally he conceded to not knowing what was wrong and simply stood in the doorway, watching her.

"I don't know why I'm crying." Serena finally sniffed, wiping her eyes with one hand and her nose with the other. Hiiro nodded, and then he made his way into the bathroom and crouched down in front of her. Lightly he took hold of her shoulders, and prompted her to look him in the eye.

"I do." He murmured. "You're alive." With his words, the blonde woman's eyes clouded over once more and a fresh set of hot tears spilled over as she nodded. Hiiro knew, he understood. A relief flooded her aching heart, and she forgot to be embarrassed or shy around the soldier. 

Hiiro understood completely. For the first time in years, his heart began to ache. Her tears… every last drop of clear salty liquid that beaded down from her crystalline azure eyes held memories for him as well. His mind raced back to his training, how lucky he had felt at the end of each day to be alive after the brutal beatings and tactics he had undergone. But over time those feelings had gone away, and he had forgotten to feel lucky to be alive. 

Then his first real mission came to his mind. After he had killed that little girl, he dog, her family, and all of those innocent civilians, he had remembered that feeling. The relief that being alive after seeing so many other dead had washed over him, and he had been wrought with grief over his mistake. But after so many missions, so many innocent dead, the feeling of wonderment at living had died away again. 

And then his memory floated to the Marimeia rebellion, the last of the battles fought during the Eve Wars. He had been so grateful to be alive after he had fallen into the ocean that he had sat in his quite undersea tomb, breathing and thanking any higher powers that existed for his life. Still, after that he lost sight of that feeling, and since then he had not felt special to be alive for any reason. After all of those incidents, after all of those years spent constantly in danger, constantly at risk of dying, he had simply become used to being alive after each fight. It never struck him as important, as life changing or life defining the way it had when he had first begun. It just… didn't matter. 

But seeing Serena, the woman he had found whom shared his views so similarly, crying her eyes out at being thankful to be alive… It struck home. He identified with her tears, he understood. And for the first time in so very long, Hiiro felt thankful that after everything he had lived through in life, he was still alive.

"I'm alive. We're alive. It's a miracle." Serena murmured through her tears. This time Hiiro could not speak, only nodded. And then he slid his arms around Serena's back and pulled her in for a hug, silently rocking her back and forth, comforting her in a way that only they knew how to understand. 

Moments upon moments passed, and Serena managed to bite back her tears and calm herself down. Hiiro's repeated rocking made her feel strangely lethargic and content, and she briefly wished she knew how to thank him for this. But she knew she never could. But then, she thought, he would understand. That was the kind of person he was too, never wanting to admit a wrong, say sorry, or to thank someone for help given. She gently pulled out of his comforting hug and wiped her cheeks. Without saying anything Hiiro stood and turned, leaving the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

"And all I ever wanted was a simple life." Serena muttered as she sniffed again and reached up to start the shower. *

~~~What do you guys think? Is it any good? I feel spent... Much love, Vixen~~~ 


	17. Realizations About Expectations

Chapter Seventeen: Realizations About Expectations

*When Serena stepped out of the bathroom, Hiiro was nowhere in their room. She sighed in relief. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him—in fact, she wondered where he had gone without any money or directions—but it was more that she had nothing on save a towel. In her haste to get to the shower and feel clean, she had left her change of fifties clothes in the room. It would have been so embarrassing if she had had to come out with Hiiro in the room!

Quickly she pulled on the bullet bra, which made her choke back a fit of laughter before she pulled it off and threw it aside. Some things were just better left in the fifties. Settling for the one the she had been wearing, she then pulled on the dress. It was actually a two-piece set: a simple powder blue, short sleeved, collared, button-up blouse, and a darker blue skirt that fitted her tiny waist and then flare out with the two layers of petticoats below it. On her feet went a pair of white bobby socks and white sneakers. She felt so clean! It was magnificent! Sitting on the bed, she began to brush her long hair, which was surprisingly almost dry. Just as she finished working out the tangles and was searching for the scarf she needed to tie it up in a ponytail, the door to the room opened and in walked Hiiro.

Instead of the army pants and shirt he had been wearing, he now wore a pair of simple blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. His shoes remained the same, and his hair was still wildly out of place, but nonetheless, it was a vast improvement. In his hands he carried two plates, filled to the brim with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and toast. 

"Hungry?" He asked. She nodded, and Hiiro saw a glint in her eye. He knew she had to have been—she hadn't eaten solid food for three months! For that matter, he couldn't really claim the slop he had been eating in the camp had been solid food either. Shaking his head at his thoughts, he put the plates down on the small round table that sat off to the corner of the room and then opened the drapes. When he turned back around to finally sit and enjoy his meal, he was stopped dead in his tracks.

He had known she could clean up fairly well—he had seen that much when they had been in the German base the first time. But her transformation was incredible this time. She had gone from the dirtiest, filthiest woman he had ever seen to the cleanest, sweetest looking girl… The blue in her clothes made her bright blue eyes stand out, and her blonde bangs framed her face in a way that when the sun shined on them, they glowed with a golden sheen, highlighting her pale features with a delicate ethereal quality. And when she smiled just as she was… her entire face lit up with mirth and innocent amazement. The effect was, nonetheless, simply extravagant in his mind.

"Where did you get the food?" Serene asked Hiiro, smiling warmly. 

"Huh?" He asked, bringing himself back down to reality. Focus!

"I asked where the food came from?" She repeated, sitting down graciously at the table, all the while trying to finish with her hair.

"Continental breakfast." He muttered. "Leave it down." 

"I'm sorry?" She asked, a confused expression now playing on her face. Leave what down? Was he awake?

"I mean, leave your hair down. It's…" Hiiro let himself trail off, but when he found himself under Serena's expectant gaze, he felt his cheeks redden and was compelled to continue. "Nice. It's nice." The smile he earned was worth the embarrassment.

"Thank you." She smiled politely. Then she placed the brush on the dresser beside her and turned back around. "Maybe I will. How did you know there was a continental breakfast?"

"I went looking for clothes and passed by the food." Hiiro shrugged. "On my way back I picked some up."

"Good thinking, I'm starving. Where'd you find the clothes?"

"The room below us." Hiiro told her indifferently and busied himself with his eggs. Serena choked on her toast, both laughing and frowning at the same time. 

"You _stole_ them?" She gasped.

"Borrowed. Besides, I needed to fit in somehow."

"We could have gone shopping." She pointed out. Hiiro said nothing. "Oh well. At least they fit you." She paused, and then started to laugh. He looked up wondering what the source of her amusement was.

"What?"

"I was just wondering how many other rooms you had to break into before you found a set of clothes that fit?" She laughed harder and Hiiro smirked.

"Four." He told her shamelessly. She continued laughing for a while longer, and when the silence over took them, it was a comfortable, unstrained one. 

"So Hiiro." Serena asked as she finished the last bite of bacon on her plate. "What are we going to do now that we're in the fifties? Was there someone you wanted to meet? A place you wanted to go?"

"Let's take a walk." He suggested. Serena frowned slightly. 

"Hiiro? We're in a small town, but there are still so many people out there. What if we get lost? Or run out of money? Maybe we should just stay here, nice and safe."

"What was the point of coming to the fifties if we don't go out and see it for our own eyes?" Hiiro asked her quietly. This wasn't about getting lost, or running out of money. This was about her fear of humans. Even though he didn't particularly enjoy or get along with the rest of humanity, he still held a small feeling of respect for them, and he certainly had no fear of them. She would have to overcome this sometime, and as the old saying went, there was no time like the present.

"Hiiro, why don't you go? I'm a historian! I'll tell you about things you can go and see, and you can go out and take a look!" She implored him. He shook his head.

"Come on, we're going. It's still early, only eight thirty. There won't be many people out yet."

"I don't know…"

"I do. Let's go." He stood from the table and held his hand out to her. Still very unsure, Serena took hold of it and allowed him to help her up from the table. Once again his eyes briefly landed on the white bandages she had wrapped around her hands, but said nothing. 

"Well, let me put my hair up then." She finally gave in. He looked at her, questioning why with his eyes. "Long hair isn't really in style, unless it's up." Quickly she manage to sweep her golden locks into a ponytail and tie them with a blue hair scarf, and then looked towards Hiiro for approval. When he nodded, she sighed. "Let's go then."

The streets of the small town were just coming to life as the couple walked silently down the street into the middle of town. Passing first the outskirt businesses of shoe repair and clocks and little antique shops, they gradually worked their way in, closer to the bigger and busier stores. Every so often a person would look up, noticing the two new people in town, and gaily wave hello, or smile and greet them with a giant 'welcome'! Serena and Hiiro were slightly taken aback the first few times they received these attentions, but as they strolled, they found it to be more common and adjusted to accept it.

"People here are so friendly." Serena whispered. Hiiro nodded.

"They are ignorant of what the future holds, and they don't care to think about it." He replied with a longing sigh hidden deep within his voice. This was what he had expected of the fifties. Everything was exactly as he had thought it might be. People were friendly, they were happy, and there was no war. Everything was perfect…

"They can't not care to think about the future Hiiro." Serena broke his reveling. 

"Why not?" He asked, truly wanting an answer. 

"Because. If they didn't care to think about it, they wouldn't be—"

"Stop." He ordered her suddenly. She stopped, in the middle of a crosswalk, looking at his with her eyebrows raised. Hiiro felt a slight heat rise in his cheeks. "I didn't mean stop walking, I meant stop talking." The flush deepened when her jaw dropped. "I didn't mean _that_ either. What I meant was… I don't really want to hear the answer. I just want to think that they don't care." With that clarification, he turned around and began walking once more.

Serena closed her mouth and continued walking, but kept her eyes trained on Hiiro's back. When she caught up to him, she reached out and lightly grazed her fingertips against his arm. Taking hold of the sleeve of his leather jacket, she lightly tugged at it, trying to get his attention. When he finally dipped his gaze to acknowledge her, she began quietly.

"Why did you want to come to the fifties Hiiro?"

"Let's look at town hall." He brushed her question off. The blonde narrowed her eyes slightly. 

"Hiiro, answer me. Why the fifties? What was the purpose? Was there a purpose?" Her voice became higher, and more heated. He knew she was getting bolder with her personal questions, but he couldn't answer them…

"What is humanity's purpose? When you can tell me that, I'll tell you why I wanted to come."

"That's not fair!" She whined. "That is a question scholars, historians, and philosophers have been trying to answer for thousands of years—and you want _me_ to answer it?"

"Yes."

"Hiiro…" She shook her head as he led them up the clean, red brick steps of the town hall. Into the old fashioned doorway they walked, through a small lobby and then he paused.

"When you can answer my question, I'll answer yours." He finalized his proposition. Serena huffed slightly, and his eyes lightened watching the motion she was displaying. On the whole she was a very quiet, gentle person who usually melded into the background and stayed that way until people forgot she was there. But he knew, he could see, that when she was near him, she trusted him enough to open up and be louder and more opinionated than usual. And when she was like that, when she had that fire… He couldn't help the fact that it forced him to rise to the occasion.

"Welcome to Hooperville, are you two new in town?" A cheerful man walked up to them and politely offered his hand to Hiiro.

"Yes." Hiiro nodded, taking the hand. "We arrived yesterday." 

"How nice to have visitors! I'm Tom Smith, the Mayor of Hooperville." Hiiro gave the man a look over. He was shorter and clean-cut, with a pressed gray suit on over a white collared shirt. His graying hair was slicked over to one side of his head with a drastic part, but his warm smile and revealed pearly white teeth in a straight row. The perfect man to have as a Mayor. Well seasoned, kind, welcoming, and probably had a good, strong, work ethic.

"Hiiro Yui." Hiiro gave him his name.

"And who is this lovely young woman?" Smith asked, giving Serena a happy smile. She shied back behind Hiiro, trying to hide her body behind his as best she could. Unfortunately, Hiiro grabbed her elbow and squeezed, making her jump out into the open. She frowned at the smirk he wore on his thin lips, then turned to the man on front of them. Bowing her head and gluing her eyes to floor, she muttered a quick hello and her name. Knowing quite well that her cheeks were red, she then wrenched her arm free of Hiiro's hold and stepped behind him.

"Serena's a very lovely name." The man nodded, shooting Hiiro an understanding smile. "How long will you folks be staying with us?"

"We're not sure." Hiiro told him, smoothly lending his voice to a more normal and natural tone. "We're still tired from traveling." Behind him, he could hear Serena cough to hide a giggle, and he himself smirked. Travel? More like tired from being prisoners in World War Two…

"In any case, however long you were planning to stay, I hope you enjoy your visit here. Hooperville is a nice, quiet little town where everything runs pretty much the same every day. It's a nice change from that faster paced city life."

"That's just what we were looking for." Hiiro offered the man a smile. 

"Well, I have to get back to work. Lots to do you know… I hope you and Serena have a nice day."

"Thank you." Hiiro nodded. When he was sure the man was out of earshot, he turned to Serena, who was still hiding behind him. "Not so bad, was it? He didn't bite."

"He didn't have to. No man is that friendly to people he's just met."

"Maybe they are here, in the fifties." Hiiro shrugged. Serena just shook her head. 

"Men have been men as long as they have walked on two legs. Human nature isn't going to change all that much simply because you've stepped a thousand years or so into the past. Even human development takes millions of years to evolve… people can't change that easily."

"I didn't say people. I said that one man."

"One man, one people."

"Stereo-type."

"Hypocrite. You think the same way Hiiro, you know it."

"I agree, human are animals, and their nature won't change simple because of a trip back in time a few thousand years. What I am saying is that at least I'm not afraid of those animals."

"That's not fair. You're trained to fight, to be strong. It doesn't matter whether or not you're scared of them, because even if you were, you'd still be able to defend yourself against them."

"I'm here. I'll defend you."

"What happens when you aren't here anymore?" She challenged. Hiiro was caught. So, instead if answering Serena, tuned in the radio that was playing on the desk nearby. 

"Who is Senator McCarthy?" He asked her; avoiding the piercing looks she was shooting his direction.

"McCarthy? He stirred up a bunch of trouble called the Red Scare… people actually came to believe there were communists in the American government."

"What's wrong with that?" Hiiro narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Well, this is the fifties. Communism is the enemy of the free world. Let's face it… no matter how sound communism is in theory, it just doesn't work when applied to a government. Human nature is greedy, and when people are given power the way they are in a communist government, it's bound to happen that _someone_ will take advantage of it, abuse it, and hurt the rest of the people in the process."

"I'm not disagreeing. What I'm asking is why it was a problem for free people to believe in something they wanted to believe in?"

"That is why McCarthy is wrong." Serena shook her head. "You and I know it. People in the future will know it. But now, in the here and present? All people see is their old enemies, the Chinese, the Russians, the Germans to some extent, all as communist. Of course they're going to believe that communists are all bad."

"Alright. Explain the Red Scare to me." Hiiro sighed.

"McCarthy accused people of being communist, and then put them on trial. The trials were broadcast, yada, yada, yada, and the whole country was in over night panic that someone they knew would be accused, list them as a communist and then they would be put on trial."

"The fifties are not supposed to have fear like this. The fifties are supposed to be an ideal time, no conflicts."

"It isn't a conflict, per say, just social unrest and a waive of rights. And it ends in another year or so."

"People are still scared. People are still panicking." Hiiro shook his head, frowning. "This was not how the fifties were supposed to be."

"Nothing is ever the way it was supposed to be. Come on, I don't want to listen to this trial anymore. It's too… weird."

"Alright. Food?"

"Starved." Serena smiled.

"You're always hungry." He grunted, letting a small smirk grace his lips before he sobered up.

"So are you." She pointed out. "Come on, wasn't there a diner a block or so down the street?" Serena began walking out the door, Hiiro in tow.

"Yeah." He replied; mind and heart still set on thinking about McCarthy and his Red Scare.

"Papers! Get your papers! Headline daily news! New study shows cancer can be cured with nuclear power! Get your paper!" A boy, who looked like he was just barely out of school, called from a street corner. "Hey mister! Come and get your copy of the paper! New York Times!" Hiiro looked at the boy, and then nodded. He could read about something else in the world, something that would make him feel better. Giving the boy a coin and taking a paper, he looked over the headline.

"Nuke Kills Cancer." He read aloud. Serena peered over his arm at the black and gray print. 

" 'Renowned scientists claim that the other day tests showed positive results that nuclear power can kill the disease called cancer. The cells that are effected are neutralized by the high intensity of the…'" She trailed off. "This is so funny…" She finally shook her head in amazement. "They sure were innocent in these days… or are innocent."

"Doesn't radiation kill cancer?" Hiiro asked. He had thought this was a good headline.

"Yes… radiation does, when used in small dosages for short amounts of time. These people are talking nuclear power… it's a whole different ballgame. They made a lot of patients very ill treating them with nuclear power before they discovered it actually did more harm than good."

"What about testing regulations? They didn't test it before it went out on the markets?" Serena shook her head.

"Couldn't. They didn't have the regulations we have in the future for testing drugs first. Plus, this was a government ploy to get people excited about being able to use nuclear power."

"We don't have nuclear weapons in the future." Hiiro mussed. "They disarmed them in AC 113; because they were worried that having them would cause more tension between the brand new Alliance government."

"They caused lots of tension in the past, I see no reason not to believe that."

"We do, however, still use nuclear power. It's what keeps the generators going in the colonies and resources satellites. Otherwise, there wouldn't be enough power to keep them on rotation and orbit, their gravity would be thrown off of le grange point, and they would go spinning into space."

"I don't know anything about that. All I know is that people in the fifties are very worried about the A-bomb, as it's affectionately called. Russia has the capability, as does the United States. In fact, the U.S. just used theirs for the first time during World War Two. Now people are worried other countries will use them as retaliation."

"Diplomacy would be used first, of course?"

"Of course diplomacy would be considered… But hotheaded political leaders often times can make life-changing decisions without consulting anyone. It really all depends on the circumstances…Sometimes those leaders—"

"Can revert to more animalistic attributes, become greedy, selfish, and impatient, and fire one bomb, thus killing thousands instantly."

"Exactly. Hiiro, look at this!" Serena pointed out a store window as they walked by it. A tiny model was built. Constructed to look like it was made of concrete, the model show a one-room cellar, stocked to the brim with food and supplies. There were mini flashlights, a radio, water, oxygen masks, and helmets. As Serena gazed in wonder at the tiny replica, Hiiro read the title of the piece.

" 'Bomb Shelters: Are You Prepared?'"

"What?" Serena looked at him confused. 

"That's what this sign says. It's bomb shelter. People think that these will protect them?" He snorted. "They should save their money. They'd be dead before they could get into them."

"No one said the fifties had logic in them."

"The fifties are supposed to be a serene, quiet, peaceful time. Instead we get communist accusations, insane senators, nuclear power, bomb shelters… This was not in mission parameters." He frowned darkly, and his voice became cold and unfeeling. Even his muscles were visibly more taut than they had been seconds earlier.

"What were 'mission parameters' exactly?" Serena asked, narrowing her eyes. This was some sort of mission? For what? Who had sent Hiiro, and why?

"That isn't what I meant…" He shook his head. "I meant this wasn't what I had expected from the nineteen-fifties." When his shoulders slumped and the darkness in his voice dropped away, Serena's intense gaze melted as well. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and squeezed gently, trying to comfort him.

"Nothing is ever what it seems to be Hiiro. To all appearances the fifties seem perfect. People look clean cut, they look happy, they look healthy. But the fifties were an era of fear, of tiredness, of consumerism and waste. On the outside, sure, society is perfect. But even the most perfect things have to have some flaws."

"Not the fifties." Hiiro shook his head in denial. "The fifties were perfect. The _are_ perfect."

"Let's go back to the hotel Hiiro. I'm not so hungry anymore." The catatonic pilot gave a nod in consent, and allowed Serena to begin dragging him away, back towards the safety of their hotel room, where everything looked perfect from the outside of the world. *


	18. The Humanity of it All

Chapter Eighteen: The Humanity Of It All

* "Explain to me how you can be so picky about your food, but not care about your appearance?" Hiiro suddenly asked Serena. Both of them were sitting around the small table in their room again, with small steaks sitting in front of them. Room service had brought them exactly what they had ordered, but still Hiiro had been sitting and watching Serena pick at her food. The blonde woman looked up, her eyes large in surprise, and Hiiro felt a chuckle arise in the back of his throat. She looked like a little girl that had just gotten caught doing something bad.

"Excuse me?" She asked. It wasn't that she hadn't heard him… she just couldn't believe he had asked that question! How… rude! Why would he ask something like that?

"You're picking at your food like it's poisoned. I would have already told you if it was. What's wrong with it?"

"That is _not_ what you asked me. You asked why I'm pickier about my food than I am about my clothes." She narrowed her wide eyes slightly. "I can't believe you even said that!" Hiiro shrugged.

"It was an observation. Was it inaccurate?" Serena flushed.

"That's not the point! So what if I don't like the fat? So what if I like my meat cooked _brown_? That's a matter of personal preference. And maybe I don't like salad… I didn't think that was a crime."

"I've never met a woman who didn't eat salad. The ones I know practically live off of it."

"Don't categorize me as 'most women'. I most certainly am not 'most women'."

"The stereo type exists for a reason. I know you aren't part of it; I'm just observing."

"You already said that. And what I'm saying is don't observe." She took a bite of steak and chewed for a moment in a flurry of silence. Then she swallowed hard and looked directly at Hiiro, singling him out with her eyes. 

Hiiro suddenly stopped mid-bite. The feeling of Serena's molten sapphire eyes trained on his every move made him very self-conscious. In fact, he couldn't concentrate with her staring at him like that! "What?" He glared back.

"Why does my appearance make a difference to you anyway? Why would you say something like that? That I don't care? Who says I don't?" She asked slowly. The look on her face was… dare he think it… one of hurt?

"When we first met, you didn't seem to care." Hiiro shrugged. "And now you're fitting in. Why bother fitting in here when you didn't bother in the time we came from? It just struck me as a break in a character trait."

"So now not caring about my appearance is a character trait of mine?"

"You're angry." It was not a question; it was wonderment. Hiiro had never seen her like this. It was like she was trying to pick a fight.

"Nonsense. I don't get angry over my appearance." The blush gracing her cheeks told Hiiro otherwise. "I can't quite grasp the concept of why you care, that's all."

"I don't."

"You do, otherwise you wouldn't have said anything."

"I just found it to be uncharacteristic that you care to fit in here and not at home." Hiiro shifted. The room was getting a little humid. Maybe he should get up and open a window…

"And you tried to fit in at home too, did you? Because the way I see it, you're doing the same thing." Serena narrowed her eyes. Hiiro was testing a difficult subject.

As long as she could remember when she had been younger, Serena had wanted to fit in with the other girls in her classes. She had wanted to, but had never been able to. Her family hadn't had enough money to pay for new clothes every year. They had barely managed to pay the bills and eat one meal a day, let alone keep shoes on their feet. And how was she to be popular with those hyenas heckling at every other girl if they came to school so much as once with mismatched socks?

So what if she had never had enough money to dress herself the same way as most women? So what? Why should that matter? She was a successful scholar, an acclaimed historian who was famous world and space wide. Why should how she dressed effect anything? 

"You're right. I didn't give a damn when we were in the future. The others didn't care though." Hiiro agreed after some thought.

"Others? The Preventers that were in the Winner Mansion?"

"The men and women you met, yes."

"I felt the same way about my colleagues. They didn't care how I looked, so why bother putting on a show for them?"

"Whom did you work with? I don't recall hearing any other names along side yours for any awards." Serena flushed a deep crimson. 

"Alright. So my cats didn't care how I looked. The point I was trying to make was: you are doing the same thing I am, why should it matter?"

"Why didn't you try to fit in when we were in the future? You could have, easily. Why are you scared of people?"

"I'm not scared of people!" She snapped. Hiiro had lost all interest in his meal as he watched Serena's face going through her range of emotions. She was still blushing, but her cheeks were blotchy, and her eyes were glassy. She was very hurt by this conversation, whether she was willing to admit it or not, and he wanted to know why.

"You are. When we first met, you couldn't say more than yes or no. It's taken numerous life-endangering situations just for us to make progress to the discussion part of a relationship."

"So now we have a relationship? You were upset that the woman at the front desk thought we were married!" Serena huffed in disbelief. And then she reveled in Hiiro's deep blush.

"I didn't mean that kind of relationship. What I meant was in a professional partnership, it has taken us up until now to have average discussions."

"You certainly didn't seem to have these 'discussions' with your friends at home! They told me I would just have to get used to your rude silence, like they did. You are no better than I am when it comes to dealing with people! So what if I hate dealing with vultures that suck the life out of every last thing? So what if I don't want to be laughed at by a bunch of lemmings and hyenas? You're not so very different!"

"I can deal with them when necessary. You, on the other hand, completely shut yourself off from the rest of the world. You could fit in, should you so choose to."

"So could you." Serena countered.

"I couldn't."

"You already do."

"I don't. And I never will." Hiiro shook his head. This was not so fun anymore.

"The tables have turned, Mr. Hiiro Yui. Why couldn't you ever fit in? You could just as easily as I. More so! At least you already have friends to accept you, no matter what you're like. I have nothing and no one. So tell me, just how is it that _you_ will never be able to fit in, unlike me, who could at any time so should I choose to?"

"It's complicated." Serena watched the man in front of her begin to stand and walk towards the window, but she wasn't going to let him escape that easily. Pushing her chair out, she grabbed his arm. 

Instantly she found herself being grabbed, pressed hard against the wall, and her wrists pinned together above her head. She yelped, but bit her tongue and vowed she would not let him intimidate her. And then, just as quickly as she had found herself up against the wall, Hiiro had released her.

Serena let her gaze follow him to their window, which he opened, and then looked at the sliding glass doors of the balcony. She watched him move towards them, and then with ease slip outside and turn his back to her, gazing into the sunset sky. Not to be deterred, Serena quickly collected herself and followed.

"That is why I can never fit in." Hiiro said after they had been standing in silence for nearly twenty minutes.

"Your trained reaction?" Serena expanded tentatively. Hiiro nodded.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" He turned his body towards her, but left his eyes trained on the setting sun. The pinks, oranges, and purples lighting the sky were bright in the distance, and the shimmering white orange of the dying orb flickered faintly as it dipped and dropped below the horizon line.

"No." Serena whispered. Hiiro finally let his eyes meet hers. "And even if you did… Wouldn't that take me one step closer to finding my humanity?" Hiiro frowned.

"I'm not so sure anymore. I used to believe pain reminded me I was mortal, that I was human. But now… I'm so used to it that I hardly feel it. If I can't feel pain, how am I supposed to remember what I am?"  
"Are you suggesting pain and suffering are not what make us human?" Serena took a step closer to Hiiro, a light frown playing on her full, rosy lips.

"Partially."

"Does that mean that all of the men and women who have died in the past, and will die in the future, are dying for nothing? That they are dying and never achieving humanity?"

You once said that dying was the ultimate pain, thus bringing the ultimate humanity. And then you finished by asking how anyone can be human if they are dead. Well, this would answer that. Pain and suffering are part of finding humanity. But death strips us of it. Perhaps we find humanity through other means as well?"

"Such as? Hiiro, I'm a historian, not a social psychoanalyst, or whatever they call themselves. I like facts, I like tactics, I like researching things I can see, taste, touch, and hear. I like solid proof and evidence. Humanity? There is nothing to prove anything about humanity in any documents except for the fact that throughout our race's existence we have defined ourselves through fights, battles, and wars. That _is_ humanity, the cunning and willingness to hunt our own down. Are we even sure we want to be human?" She rubbed her arms, trying to warm herself in the cooling night air.

One or two crickets began to chirp in the distance, their music echoing hauntingly in the dark. Hiiro watched her small, bandaged hands rub her arms, and pulled his coat off, draping it lightly around her petite frame. Serena nodded her thanks silently, and looked up. Hiiro began to speak again.

"We don't have a choice—we're human regardless of what we do now. And can you honestly tell me that in the midst of all the fighting there was never any free time? Any enjoyment, any aid given to those who were suffering?"

"No, of course not."

"Well then, isn't that part of humanity as well?"

"Of course. But the want to fight and dominate is a more dominate characteristic of humanity as a whole."

"Or maybe we've been looking at it from the wrong angle. Say I kiss you. Does that make me less of a human? Because it's pleasurable, not painful? Doesn't it still produce an emotion, regardless of which?" Hiiro slowly reached out and traced Serena's jaw line with his fingertips as gently as possible.

"I never thought of it that way. And maybe it is painful? You've never kissed me, how do you know?" Serena breathed. Neither was quite aware of what they were saying anymore, but both were fully aware of the attraction they felt towards each other.

"I don't." Hiiro's voice became a low growl. "I could… always… try it?"

"An experiment? Research? For humanity's sake?"

"For humanity's sake." Hiiro nodded his head dubiously. And then he bent his head and let his lips crush Serena's. Very, very softly, he pecked her lips once, twice, thrice. And then he began to press harder. 

Serena allowed his kisses, and when he began to make her dizzy with desire, she finally submitted. Inexperienced as they both were, neither had any problems in figuring out what to do. It naturally flowed between the two of them, the way conversation, the way life, usually did. When they broke, both avoided eye contact, afraid of the other seeing their blushing cheeks.

"Was, was it painful?" Serena managed to ask.

"No. I feel more alive than I've felt in years. More alive than any pain has ever made me feel."

"Really?" Serena licked her lips, and Hiiro's eyes wandered towards her pink tongue as it wagged back and forth in front of him for a moment. Hiiro wasn't thinking straight. She was… magnificent. Serena… dark, quiet, pretty, smart… everything about her attracted him with a power that he could hardly fathom. They thought the same way, they understood each other… it was all so instinctive and innate around her that it blew his mind. The next thing Hiiro knew, he was leaning in for another kiss. Raping her mouth, he pulled her in closer; hugging her body tighter to his in a desperate attempt to assure himself she was real. 

Serena felt herself go weak at the knees, but managed to hold on to a few of her wits long enough to begin kissing back. Slowly, she let her mouth move as Hiiro led her in the kiss. So violently was she being pierced by every sensation that coursed through her body that she could not begin to concentrate. A soft moan caught in her throat, and only stimulated her further. Hiiro was so forceful, so demanding; yet at the same time he was gentle. Serena knew how powerful he could be if he wanted to… but he wasn't. He was controlled, and sweet, and it all felt _so_ good…

Breaking for air, Hiiro pulled away slightly and pecked Serena's forehead. Then he pulled her in for a tight hug, breathing in the clean scent her hair still emitted. Leaning down, he breathed on her earlobe, and could feel her begin to tremble in his arms at the mere anticipation.

"Serena…" He murmured her name.

"I can't remember what we were arguing about." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. Hiiro kissed her ear, and Serena could feel his body vibrating as he did so. A deep chuckle soon followed, and she smiled, knowing he was laughing.

"I think I just proved my point."

"And that point was?"

"Humanity is defined by more than pain. Pleasure helps too…"

"Does that mean we're human? I mean, in the deeper sense of the word, not the literal sense."

"Serena? In all honesty? I don't give a damn about humanity anymore."

"Funny. Me either." She smiled softly. Then she pulled out of his hold.

"Did I hurt you?" Hiiro asked in concern. Her moves had been sudden and not what he had expected. Not to mention, he had thought she was comfortable in his arms. He had been comfortable…

"Sorry." She muttered. "I'm still a little sore from our encounter with those soldiers."

"Your head you mean?" Hiiro frowned when Serena shook her head.

"No. I still have bruises from when I was shot in my stomach. That and those doctors… when I woke up from the coma, they started sticking me with a whole bunch of needles and doing tests. My head feels all right though. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You never told me how many times you were shot… do you even know?"

"Well, I know you were on top of me, trying to take the brunt of the force—"

"After I was knocked out, how many times were you shot?"

"Three I think, all in the side. The doctors said it was why I was in a coma, because I had lost so much blood."

"And you still have bruises?"

"Yes. They're almost gone though. It's mostly just sore."

"Now explain to me your hands. I meant to ask earlier… No, I know how it happened. Why didn't you say anything sooner? About your hands? Or your stomach for that matter?"

"I don't know. I didn't think it was all that important. It's just a few cuts and bruises, nothing life threatening. I'd forgotten about my hands anyway; they don't hurt."

"You mean you thought I wouldn't care that you were injured." Hiiro stepped back and dropped gaze to the side. 

"You have to admit Hiiro, neither of us really like to admit to pain. And neither of us would normally care about someone else who was injured."

"You would care if I was hurt."

"Of course I would care! Do you know how upset I was when I saw that you got yourself beaten up just to see me when I woke from that stupid coma? In fact, do you know what it was like to suddenly see you _alive_? My god! I was just getting used to the fact that you had probably died, and then you show up, beaten to a pulp. I cared, I won't even begin to deny it!" Serena looked at Hiiro, and he could tell he had touched upon a delicate subject. She cared that much? 

"And I care that you're injured." He swallowed hard, cursing to himself. This was… never expected. Of all the things he had possibly accounted for on this trip, he had never planned to grow to care for someone the way he cared for Serena. So long had he built up his barriers against the outside world, so long had he protected himself from all the pain that he might possibly experience in an emotional form, and now… none of his comrades had ever worried him. But they could take care of themselves. This was different for some reason, so very different.

"You care?" Serena whispered. Hiiro nodded. "Thank you."

"The fifties aren't what I thought I would find." Hiiro finally broke their tension filled silence.

"You thought they were the perfect time?" Serena grasped Hiiro's hand and gently began to rub her thumb over it soothingly in small circles. 

"Maybe." Hiiro turned his head away. How could he describe what he had once believed? "You know I'm Preventer Zero. Did anyone ever mention my other nickname?"

"No. I didn't know much about you—except that you were the top Preventer, and the most feared. And I can see why. You're a strong man Hiiro."

"I'm tired of being strong Serena." Hiiro sighed, letting his head drop. Placing his forehead on her shoulder, he allowed Serena's tiny hands to wander uncertainly through his long, messy, chocolate locks. 

"Tired of being strong? But being strong like you are, it's a gift. It's a blessing. You never have to worry about being hurt, physically or emotionally. You're safe."

"I'm not. Serena, there is no way anyone could ever understand how tired I am. Since I was born I've been an emotionless child, forced to do what I was told, never making conscious choices and decisions for myself. I felt nothing when I killed. I felt nothing when I bled. I felt nothing when I died at the end of the war. But I'm still here, in this never-ending cycle of torture. Every bone in my body just begs for rest. My muscles groan every time I move, and my heart pumps like a dead weight. I need something more in my life. I can't be strong anymore, I'm ready to snap in half." Serena could feel Hiiro's arms slip around her waist and hold her tighter. Her fingers kept their same slow and steady pace as they brushed through his hair, soothing him into a peaceful rage.

"But you feel alive. Don't you remember that feeling?" She asked him carefully.

"I feel pain. I don't have any more strength to spend on blocking out emotions. All the pain I missed growing up is suddenly impacting me, and I don't know what to do with it. I thought coming to the fifties would change things. I did research, I searched for the era people were most content, and the fifties won out by a majority."

"Only because most of the social upheaval was restrained until the sixties! Hiiro, the peaceful fifties were always a myth. In every time, in every decade, millennium in every world and universe, there has never been and never will be a peaceful, perfect society. We are humans, we were born with the inevitable trait to protect our own interests, even when it comes down to fighting, killing, eradication, and extinction."

"But I wanted to believe otherwise Sere."

"We can't live shrouded in a lie. Otherwise we're a lie ourselves. Hiiro, you're so real to me. In fact, you're the first real person I've ever met. You're the only one whom I'm ever felt a connection with. You understand the way my mind works, the way I understand yours. We have an unspoken bond… do you really want to give that up for a lie?" *

~~~This is wrapping up… sorry to add to the tear fest! Please do review; I could do with a little cheering up as of late! Much love, Vixen~~~


	19. Everything Comes Full Circle

Chapter Nineteen: Everything Comes Full Circle

*"Everything was before we met Serena. Before you and I knew each other, both of us were dying. Face it, neither of us was happy in the future. Neither of us fit in, or even wanted to. I only wanted a break. I was Perfect. I wanted the Perfect time. I thought that maybe, if I found the Perfect time, I would fit in. The fifties were perfect. There was no violence, no wars, no political upheaval. There couldn't have been! Otherwise, why was it the decade when people were most content?"

"Maybe they were happy. But people are happy in our time too. The fifties… Hiiro, if you had asked me before we had left what the fifties were like, I would have told you it was a decade of fear. Nuclear, communism, cold war, race, even science. The reason people were so 'content' is because they were too afraid to live. After World War Two, can you blame them for trying to hide all of society's problems? You tried to hide your problems after our Eve Wars. But they were still there, weren't they?"

"Of course."

"So obviously then hiding it didn't work."

"I know! I know you're right! I just… I'm tired of fighting. I wanted a peaceful time. Isn't there any peace left?"

"You have to make peace. That's why you fought, to create peace in your world. So now then, the question remains. As a human, can we find it within ourselves to keep peace long enough to live happily?"

"Humans were also born with willpower. We can find it in ourselves."

"Optimist."

"Pessimist." 

"I'm not saying we can't. I'm just saying it might take us little more effort than we've been giving." Serena sighed and sniffed slightly. "Or a lot more effort. It really just depends."

"I wanted to live here, in the fifties. I thought it would be perfect, to finally live in a time where my background as a soldier and assassin wasn't known and didn't matter. But I don't like it here. In all honesty? I…" Hiiro trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

"What in all honesty?" Serena asked, eyes blinking. He had stopped so abruptly. Hiiro tilted his head down, shading his eyes from view.

"I miss my comrades."

"Your friends? Those people who contacted me?" Hiiro nodded, and closed his eyes. He felt ashamed. He had always been taught not to rely on other people, to stay disconnected and superficial with relationships because in war people die too easily, and forming a bond can hurt one when it is severed. Still, the war was now over. And here they were, all of them had survived the war. In fact, didn't that make their bonds stronger? Because they had survived through something so terrible together? Wasn't that why he and Serena had become so close? Because they had worked together to live through that World War Two experience? He knew in his heart the answer beat yes. 

"Yeah, them. Comrades."

"I understand." Serena nodded. "You're lucky, you know? To have comrades that care about you, even though you never show you care about them."

"No friends?"

"I had a few. They died during the war, and since then I haven't really made an effort to find new ones. It doesn't seem fair to replace."

"You don't necessarily replace them. Just… find new ones."

"That's what my brother said."

"So then you _do_ have a family." Hiiro grunted. Something he had never had.

"Yes, I do. They live back home—my dad can't work anymore because of an old injury that flared up, so my mom works double shifts as a nurse in a hospital. My younger brother Sam works in coal mines about a mile down the road from our house."

"Coal mines? I thought men were no longer manning coalmines; don't they use machines for that? Aren't they too dangerous?"

"Sure they're dangerous, and yes, in some places they do use machines. But where I was born, they didn't have enough machines, so men were still being used to blast out tunnels and such. When people need work to eat, suddenly coalmining doesn't seem as dangerous. My father used to do it too, but like I said, an old injury won't let him do anymore lifting."

"I see."

"I don't see them often anymore, but I do send them the majority of the money I make. Not that it's much—being a historian doesn't exactly pay millions."

"Neither does being a soldier." Suddenly Serena burst out laughing. Hiiro looked down at her and raised his eyebrows in wonder. "And you're laughing because?"

"We have so much in common that it's funny. Both of us had shady childhoods, both of us believe that humanity is flawed beyond repair, we both have lame salaries…"

" 'Lame salaries' was the farthest thing from my mind, actually. Money isn't important."

"Agreed. Of course, you have friends who have it, so you can say that." She smirked lightly.

"I can. Is that careless? Or inhumane?"

"A little snobbish, possibly careless, not inhumane. It's the truth, and sometimes, no, the majority of the time, truth hurts. We just have to suffer through and bare it." Serena nodded at her own words, and Hiiro smirked.

"I like how you tell it like it is."

"I like that about you too. A hard knock on their door interrupted the two from their conversation, and they both stood at the same time. Serena, Hiiro noticed, instantly began to withdraw into herself. She slumped her shoulders and bowed her head, trying to step behind him and shield herself from their visitor. He half smirked, half frowned, finding her actions sad, yet undeniably endearing. The hard knocking came once again, and this time Serena whimpered slightly. This made Hiiro frown completely.

"Did you order something more from room service?" She whispered, azure eyes wide with shock.

"No." Hiiro gruffly answered. "This is the fifties Serena. No matter what you told me about social unrest, there is no threat towards us currently." Even still, Hiiro gently fingered the gun he wore tucked into his waistband. "Who is it?" He called monotonously through the door. The knocking came again, harder this time.

"Hotel management, open the door please!" Hiiro nodded and opened the door a crack. When he was convinced it was indeed hotel staff knocking, he opened it fully and looked the man over with his critical and judgmental eye. 

Instantly Hiiro's mind fled, two days over ten years, and his memory was jogged. The man who stood before him had longer, graying blonde hair that waved slightly, falling into his eyes. His build was tall and lanky, but the size of his arms suggested that in his younger days he had been quite strong. A bushy blonde mustache beneath his nose was finely trimmed, and his mouth was drawn into a hard, thin line—there was no joking around with this man. Dog tags hung around his neck, and a cigarette was clutched in one hand. Ten years for this man, two days for Hiiro. 

"I couldn't pass this opportunity up. I saw the entry in the guest books and instantly knew your name. Ten years, ten long years and still I haven't forgotten: "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Those words, a stolen gun, and a set of keys. You haven't aged one day—though you clean up relatively nicely—Hiiro Yui."

"Hnn." 

"Don't give me that crap soldier. We spent three months in a German POW camp, in the same cell, and all I ever heard was grunting. Still, I know you better than that. You're a psychotic lunatic who doesn't know what the meaning of the words pain or regret are. We spent another month and a half in that camp Yui. Month and a half! And you and your German doll got off easy! How'd you pull this one off though? Not aged a day!"

"Hiiro?" Hiiro's ears heard Serena's delicate whisper. "Who is he?" He nodded.   
"Serena, William Evans. POW camp in the forties." Serena gasped at the news. 

"Hiiro, this is not good. Neither of us thought of what might happen if someone found us in this ti, um, _place_, if you catch my drift." She hissed. Hiiro narrowed his electric blue eyes at Evans.

"We cannot interact with you. Leave, or we will."

"Interact with me? Who do you two think you are? Explain to me how you pulled such a masterful escape plan off without a hitch? You even managed to take that woman with you, and she was half dead! I suppose I owe Nicks my life—it's what he bet saying that you two would make a clean escape. So how'd you do it?"

"I've already told you to leave. Last warning." Hiiro fingered his gun openly, allowing Evans to get a good look at the cool gleaming metal that hissed with Hiiro's hot touch.

"Bullshit Yui." Evans rolled his eyes, but half smirked. "You owe me an explanation—and I won't be leaving until I get it." As Hiiro began to draw his gun from his waistband, Serena's hand stopped it, gently pushing it back.

"Let me explain." She told him quietly. "You don't have to use force anymore, remember?" Instantly, though she felt tenser than she had in a while, Serena could feel Hiiro relax. His hand lifted away from his gun, and he slipped a protective arm around her petite waist. 

"Alright."

"I'm waiting?" Evans reminded them.

"Mr. Evans, my name is Serena, and I'm a historian. Hiiro here is a soldier, much like yourself, but from a different war. In fact, neither of us are originally from the forties. I know it sounds a little ludicrous, but we ended up in the forties through a time travel mishap, and then were caught in your war. Hiiro and I are not supposed to reveal this information, so we were very secretive about it. When we escaped, we traveled time once more, and ended up here. While for you it's been ten years, it has only been a matter of two days for us."

"What?" Evans stood dumbfounded. "You honestly expect me to believe that bullshit?" His voice began to rise.

"No." Serena shrugged. She hadn't expected him to believe her; that was part of her plan. "But you said you wanted an explanation." Then she stepped behind Hiiro once more and let him deal with his old cellmate.

"So now that you've had your fill of fantasies, leave." 

"Yui. You were never enlisted in the Army. Not the Army, not the Navy, not the Marines or the Air Force. I checked every record of every man, searching for some tangible evidence that you had existed for years. I wanted to convince myself that I had met someone from _some_ branch of the armed forces, from some part of our country. You were never in the CIA, or the FBI. You were never even born according to records! Your very existence is mind-boggling. What are you?" 

"I am a no one, a nothing. You were right when you said I was never even born according to the records. There are no existing records to prove I am alive—and that's as it should be."

"Then who trained you?" Evans whispered. The fear the older man felt was crawling up his skin, invading his blood, and making it hard to breathe. The very thought of Hiiro Yui had sent fear into his heart and soul since the war had ended, and even today, facing this ghost of a man was bone-chillingly frightening—though the old soldier would never admit it to anyone.

"I was trained by a classified group of the military; that is all you need to know."

"And her? The girl?" Hiiro's eyes narrowed.

"As she claimed, she is a historian whom has been working closely with me for the last decade."

"And you let her make up lies about time travel as an excuse for your non-existence?"

"Yes. Anymore, final, questions?"

"Age. You look as if you haven't aged a day. How…?"

"I was very young when I joined. I haven't aged that much in ten years. That is all the information I'm allowed to release. Now, if you would leave…?" Hiiro nodded his head towards the door.

"Are you kidding? I haven't seen you in years, and already you want me to leave? I wanted to… I don't know… catch up? We spent three months in that cell together. Want to tell me what you've been doing since the war ended?" Evans sighed and crossed his arms. He had never particularly gotten along with Yui… "Kerry", as he had known him for the majority of the time, had always acted as though he were better than everyone else in the camp, as if he were some sort of God-gifted man. It was almost as if Kerry had been the superior officer in the situation, not the other way around. Still, they _had_ spent those three months together, and even if it wasn't important to Kerry, those three months had meant quite a lot to him. That was a significant part of his life, being caged like an animal without his rights and needs met for three months. He just couldn't quite see how it could leave such an insignificant mark in Kerry's life where it had affected him so very much.

"No catching up. You need to leave."

"Come on Yui. Spill." Evans, obviously tying not to be affected by Hiiro's anti-social personality, grabbed a corner of the bed closest to the door and settled in. After all, spending all that time with him, he knew Hiiro wouldn't hurt him without good reason—Hiiro was a man who was in control of his actions and emotions, above all else. He was Perfect in every way; he let nothing slip.

"He's not leaving Hiiro…." Serena whispered. It was not so much that she was afraid of the man really, no. Not after she and Hiiro had had their conversations. Something about the way he held hope for the human race, even though he shared her same pessimistic views the majority of the time, had given her hope too. Maybe not all people were going to hurt her the way she had been in the past. And if Hiiro already knew this man well enough to let him into the room, then surely he couldn't be too much of a threat to them. Her only motive in wanting Evans to leave was that he had too many questions that neither she nor Hiiro were fully prepared to answer. They couldn't let him know about the future… not that he would necessarily _believe_ them… still…

"I know Sere. Do you want me to remove him?" Hiiro asked her gently. He was a little surprised she wasn't trembling anymore. But if Evans made her uncomfortable in any way, he would make the man pay—big time.

"Just don't let on too much about the future, and we should be just fine." Serena whispered back. Hiiro nodded.

"Going to answer Yui? What's been going on since the war ended?"

"Nothing. Little bit of work for the government, that's it." Hiiro vaguely responded.

"Top secret again?"

"Yes."

"I see." A silence filled the room, and then Evans started up again. "I knew you were a quiet one Yui, but I would have thought that you'd have grown out of it by now. You're girlfriend is just as quiet too—Serena was it?"

"Yes, her name is Serena, and yes, we're both quiet, and we like being this way." Hiiro shot off answers one after another.

"No need to get all defensive! Just stating a fact it all."

"If it's a fact, it does not need to be re-iterated." Hiiro monotonously answered. Serena felt like laughing. Hiiro wasn't really upset with the man, he was toying with his mind, she knew. It was really quite humorous to watch.

"I know that! Don't you think I know that?"

"Hnn."

"Jesus Yui, you're exactly the same, haven't changed a bit! I thought it might be nice to catch up on old war stories, or to see what we've been up to; I don't know how you do it! How can you block out being in that camp with me for three months? Didn't it mean _anything_ to you? Being a prisoner for so long? Being a prisoner at all? Didn't it bother you?"

"Hiiro." Serena let her small voice travel to Hiiro's hearing distance. "Don't toy with him anymore." Hiiro took a moment, but then nodded in acknowledgment.

"It meant something, however, it did not bother me. I have been imprisoned by the enemy for longer amounts of time. Three months to a trained soldier who has experienced POW camps before is not as monumental as it is to someone like yourself, who had never had the experience before."

"You were imprisoned before?"

"Yes."

"Where? By who? Why didn't you ever tell Nicks and I this?"

"I am not at liberty to discuss this issue farther." Hiiro stated. He didn't feel as in control of this situation as he had once had, and it made him uneasy to think about it. Sharing personal information with someone who he did not completely trust was too hard, too fragile of a commitment for him.

"Really." Evans stopped, and then he stood. "Hiiro, I'm what, thirty years older than you?"

"More."

"Alright then, forty. And you still make me feel like you're the older man. You have since we were in that cell ten years ago. You, I think for some reason, have had more experiences in your short lifetime than I have in my long one. And frankly? It scares me. It was nice to learn that you and your girlfriend survived—it makes me think that maybe there is hope in the world. I wish you luck in the future, Hiiro, because though you probably don't need it, it's better to have it on your side anyway." Serena and Hiiro remained silent as they watched Evans reach for the door handle. Then, just as the older man stepped out and was closing the door behind him, Serena stopped him.

"Luck is only skill properly applied. And I think you have enough skill to have luck. In fact, I'm sure of it. Good night Mr. Evans." And with that, she shut the door, leaving Evans to stand alone in the hall and wonder—who exactly were those two psychopaths that he had come across? *


	20. Empty Chairs for Invisible Girlfriends

Epilogue: Empty Chairs for Invisible Girlfriends

*The two were quiet for a very long time. Both perched on the end of one of the small beds, staring into the vacant white wall in front of them. Neither had any words to share with the other, and neither would have wanted to share even if they did. Their silence, though long and unbroken, was comfortable. Both of their souls had grown old together in the short months they had been in the past, and the level of understanding had passed the need for spoken words and gestures. 

"It still hurts Hiiro?" Serena finally whispered to him, questioning what they had both been thinking.

"It will take a long time to let the pain fade. My body aches."

"You mean your heart aches."

"So does yours, I'm not the only one who is still being hurt by the past. Serena, what if we get home. Will we both be this way, unchanged?"

"I should be asking you that question. As your friends said, we are the same soul, trapped in different bodies." Hiiro snorted, and Serena tilted her head to look at him, breaking her stare at the wall. "What?"

"I believe they said it in a less graceful manner. In fact, I believe Duo suggested you were the 'female Hiiro'." Serena gave him a tiny side smile.

"So he did. But the question still remains. Are we even the same people we were before we traveled time?"

"Absolutely not." Hiiro nodded. "I cannot go back to who I was. I came here to find peace of mind, and it was shattered. I've had my realization that no matter where I go, or when I go, every human society is the same. There is no perfect place or time."

"If there was, don't you think we would have found a way to replicate that utopia on a world wide scale in our present? History… history is what we make of it. It is the way events and actions men have taken all skewed and biased. But our present, well, we are living it. In a way, the present is better than the past because not only do we learn from our mistakes, but we can create our own. We can't do that here."

"I'm not the only one who's changed. You're more talkative."

"I have someone I trust to talk to." She blushed and traced the pattern of the bedspread between them. "It makes a big difference."

"Agreed. So neither of us are the same people as when we left. And both of us wish to go home. But I suppose the biggest question then is, if we can get home, will we act differently when we get home, or will we revert to who we were?"

"I don't know. Our time… it scares me. I like to study history because it's tangible. There are facts, artifacts, bones, and set dates. I already know what happened. Our time, well, I don't know what's going to happen, so I get scared." Hiiro finally tore his eyes from the empty wall and looked at Serena. Her head was bent, locks of gold cascading down over her shoulders and face, hiding her expression from his vision. Very gently he reached out and took hold of her hand, which was still tracing the pattern on the bedspread.

"I'll protect you." Serena's head shot up, and her electric blue eyes opened wide in surprise at Hiiro's conviction. Could he… did he… She stopped. Looking at him, reading his eyes, the way he implored her with them, the worry lines that were etched softly into his forehead, the tiny crinkle between his eyebrows, the way he held her hand gently within his… and she knew. He was telling the truth. So many times had he already saved her life during this trip, ad now he was offering to do it for the rest of life. Part of her was ecstatic. He was offering to protect her! And the other half thought how did she know she could trust him? The two sides battled, her unsure self losing to her more confident side. 

And then she had a revelation. She was tired just as Hiiro was. She was tired of fighting to hide. It had been a constant battle hiding from people, making sure she would never get hurt emotionally had taken its toll on her physically and mentally. Well, she was tired of it all. Tired of running. And Hiiro offered her a safe alternative to her outdated lifestyle of reclusion.

"You'll protect me from life?" She repeated carefully.

"You and I both know you don't want protection from life. You want protection from being hurt. Emotionally." Hiiro narrowed his eyes. He knew what she needed, and he wasn't about to be overstated. While he had said protection, he was never going to allow her to hide behind him form the rest of the world and the people that resided within it. But he also knew that she didn't truly want that type of protection any longer. Her head no longer dropped, he could read her eyes clearly as they shimmered, his reflection shining in her unshed tears. The innocence she radiated blew his mind. Her eyes, bright and untouched by the hell of real war, her skin, pure and ivory without imperfection, her slightly parted pink lips, dropped in awe of his words. Everything about her warmed his heart and intensified his feelings ten fold.

"As long as you can protect me from some of it… I can learn to deal with the rest. But I need someone there, someone I trust to fall back on…"

"Serena." Hiiro growled. "We're here together, and if we get home, we'll be there together. You fall, I catch you." Serena didn't answer, but brought her small hand up to Hiiro's face. He shuddered slightly as her soft, warm hand cupped his cold cheek. 

"And I promise you Hiiro…you will never feel as much pain as you have in your past."

"I believe that." Hiiro told her, catching her gaze. "Because all you have to do is tell me that, and my pain instantly dulls and I feel as if I've just woken from a nightmare; complete relief washes over me." Serena smiled.

"Such a sweet talker."

"Maybe I just have someone sweet to talk to." Hiiro smirked. Serena pulled her hand away from his cheek and pushed his chest away. They both broke into laughter and fell back onto the bed. Serena turned to lie on her side, and Hiiro crawled up behind her, placing his arm across her waist and pulling her into his body. And they lay, peaceful and sweet together as a gentle sleep over took them. 

)(

"Are we sure we want to do this?" Catherine frowned. "It just seems wrong. Destroying the time machine? Why can't one of us try to use it, or, or…"

"Cathy, don't make this any harder than it already is." Trowa placed his arm around her shoulders. Together the couples of the Gundam pilots and their girlfriends watched over the lifeless hunk of machinery that had changed their lives so drastically.

"Please, can we just get this over with?" Hilde closed her eyes and squeezed Duo's hand. Duo was already openly sobbing into her shoulder. He had lost his comrade, his best friend to an error in human intelligence. Damn the machines, damn human intelligence, and damn himself. He might just as well have sent Hiiro on the mission that had ended his life!

"Duo, this was not your fault." Wufei placed a hand on the braided pilot's shoulder. The Chinese warrior was allowing a single tear to fall as he spoke his words. 

"It was no one's fault. No one could have predicted this would happen." Dorothy told them gently. 

"But if I hadn't suggested that we even build the machine… Hiiro and Serena might still be here today."

"Quatre, no one forced Hiiro to go. No one forced Serena either. In fact, we warned them about the danger numerous amounts of times. There was only so much we could do. Hiiro has always been stubborn, and Serena knew what she was getting herself into." Trowa tried to console his friend.

"Please, can we just finish it already?" Hilde pleaded, still watching Duo weep freely into her shoulder.

"Is everyone ready?" Sally asked as she stepped up with a giant gun. 

"Wait. I want to say something." Duo sniffled. "It's only fair that I be the one to give the eulogy. Hiiro. I don't know where you are, or when you are, or even if you're still alive. But I pray that you are, I pray that you've found happiness. Hiiro, you never told us why the fifties. And I don't care anymore. I just wish you were home with us, your comrades. Our team isn't complete without you, and it will never be complete again. 

"No one can ever replace you, whether it be physically in Wing, or in our team, or in our friendships. No one will ever be able to hold a gun to my head the way you did. No one will ever be able to be so unemotional as you were, no one will ever be as cold. Compared to you, no one will ever be so much as close to perfection. Hiiro, you were Perfect. Never doubt that. And I'm only sorry I couldn't measure up to your standards. 

"We decided that in honor of who you were, we would destroy the time machine with a gun. It's our way of giving you a soldier's burial. It's what you deserve, what you would have wanted. Buddy, we'll always miss you. Amen." Duo, who was still sniffling, turned around to see that there was not a dry eye in the room. Every single pilot, from Wufei to Trowa to Quatre and himself, as well as Hilde, Dorothy, Sally, and Catherine was crying unashamed for their dead friend. 

"Beautiful." Quatre sniffed. "Alright Sally, go ahead and blow it away." Sally cocked the gun and just as she placed her finger on the trigger, she heard a voice.

"No, stop." Trowa forced her to come a halt. "One more thing. I want to set the time back to the present. That way he died here, not in some unknown place in some unknown time."

"Good idea." Wufei nodded. Trowa stepped forward and punched in the date, AC 202. Then he stood back and sighed. "Alright. Now you may—" The room lurched and suddenly the air in the room, which has laid stagnant before, swirled around as if gusts of wind had broken through. Just as suddenly as they had kicked up, the winds disappeared, and everything was still for a moment more. Then the lights flashed on and off briefly, and everything in the room shut off. Wind kicked up once again, and finally, when it died down for the second time it appeared everything was over.

"What the hell was that?" Wufei screamed.

"What happened?" Dorothy breathed.

"Is everybody alright? No one was hurt?" Quatre voiced his concern. After checking to see that everyone was just as they had been before the strange phenomenon occurred, he then surveyed the room. And gasped. When the rest of the group heard him gasp, four guns were drawn and aimed immediately at the direction to which Quatre's eyes were glued. 

Standing within the center of the room were two familiar figures. A chocolate colored mop of hair framed very dangerous prussian blue eyes as they glared around the room in alarm—gun in hand. Within the man's free arm stood a short, petite woman with waves of sun-kissed blonde hair cascading down around her and big oceanic blue eyes opened wide in surprise. She leaned in closer to the man on instinct, and he held her tighter for good measure.

"It can't be…" Trowa gasped. "Hiiro…"

"Hiiro?" Quatre whispered. Hiiro instantly lowered his gun. 

"Quatre. Duo. Trowa. Wufei. Sally, Hilde, Catherine, Dorothy." He acknowledged each of them in turn.

"Hiiro!" Duo yelled. Running from Hilde's arms, he threw himself at Hiiro. Hugging the stoic boy as tightly as he could, he caught Serena up in the hug too. "You're alive!" Soon the others joined in, hugging the quiet couple as they tried to recover from the shock of being surrounded by familiar faces.

"What the hell happened? You're alive! And back! How?" Quatre wondered as tears of joy clouded his eyesight. 

"Don't know how it worked, but we definitely just traveled time again." Hiiro confirmed. "It looks like we're back Serena."

"Serena…" Hilde breathed. "You're so different looking… so much prettier…" Serena flushed.

"What happened to you two?" Wufei asked impatiently.

"We traveled time—to 1945, occupied France. Then we were shot forward in time to 1954 France, and went to America. And now… we're back here." Serena shrugged lightly. With Hiiro supporting her, facing people wasn't nearly as hard as she had imagined it might be.

"You mean… it worked?" Hiiro nodded.

"I assume you changed the correct dates on the machine, which allowed us to change times?"  
"Possibly…" Trowa muttered. "We did change the times from 1945 to 54, and then to AC 202. Incredible. So Hiiro, you made it to the fifties. Was it everything you had wanted to find?"

"The fifties… nothing is perfect Trowa." At Hiiro's words, a few glances exchanged between the pilots. 

"Found a new mentality Yui?"

"Yes." More glances were exchanged. Hiiro's actions were highly unlike him, down to the point where each of the boys secretly wondered if maybe he had been brainwashed.

"We thought you were dead…" Catherine mumbled, breaking the silence. 

"But we're not. We're home." Serena smiled lightly at her.

"Optimist." Hiiro muttered in her ear. She smiled more brightly and looked at him. 

"Maybe the glass is half full after all; who really knows?"

"I know I want a shower. And a bed." Hiiro grumbled.

"You can have anything you'd like…" Quatre told him, breathing slowly to make sure he continued to breathe. Hiiro was catching him so off guard that he was forgetting a few important functions. "We saved your old room for you, just as you left it." Hiiro nodded.

"Thanks." He then turned and took off down the hall.

"Serena, I can have a room ready for you too, if you'd like…" Hiiro stopped in his tracks at hearing Quatre's voice talking to Serena. 

"I would appreciate it very much, thank you Quatre." She managed. It really wasn't so hard after all.

"She would appreciate it, but I need to speak with her first. Which room Quatre?" Hiiro intercepted the conversation. Quatre paused a moment, slightly taken aback. Then he smiled.

"You can put her in the room between Catherine's and yours Hiiro. Serena, you're welcome to stay for as long as you'd like."

"Thank you."

"Quatre, dinner still at six thirty?" Hiiro asked. 

"Still. Nothing's changed… will you be eating with us? For a first time?"

"Yes." With that, he lightly tugged at Serena's hand, and she followed him out of the darkened hanger and back up into the finely furnished mansion.

Up the carpeted steps, over expensive Arabian and Oriental rugs, past classic Greek and Roman sculptures and vases, through halls decorated with vast paintings done by Renaissance artists, all the way to a hall that was decorated with old Japanese and English swords. Broad swords, katanas, bokens, cutlass', machetes, all littered the walls. Hiiro ducked them into a room that had two large katanas above the door. Quickly he closed the door behind them and locked it. Only then did Serena have the time to look around.

Hiiro's room was furnished in black and mahogany. One wall was entirely made of shelves, and it was host to a number of books on weapons, tactics, and other such paraphernalia. His bed rested against another wall, and the sheets were pulled up, staunchly made to perfection—not a single wrinkle showed. The black drapes were drawn across what looked to be a large window with a balcony, and a desk the sat in the far corner was littered with paperwork and computers. There were two small armchairs near the window, and Hiiro had instantly picked one to collapse in.

"Your room?" She asked unnecessarily. He nodded.

"My room."

"So what did you want to speak to me about?" She asked curiously.

"We're back."

"I noticed."

"I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to have you to myself before you begin taking on the world. You're already more comfortable with my comrades."

"You talk about them so much I feel as if I know them. I do fee more comfortable talking to them. But you were there too… it's not so hard when you're around." Hiiro smirked and grabbed her waist. Pulling her into his lap, he wrapped his arms around her.

"You'll be staying for a while. A long while."

"If that's true, I had better see my room." She told him gently.

"Later." He shushed her. Serena looked at him skeptically for a moment, then lay her head upon his shoulder. 

"Alright. That just means I'm sleeping here for now…"

"Good." Hiiro smirked as he closed his eyes too. "We're even now."

)(

"Well, Hiiro _did_ say he'd be down for dinner… he even made sure it was still at six thirty. So where is he? And Serena? I haven't seen her all day either."

"All I want to do is catch up with my buddy. I want to know how time traveling was, what he did and saw, and why the fifties. Other than the fact that they were Perfect. And I want to know what happened to Serena. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Hiiro gave her a fashion sense!" Duo snorted.

"Duo! How rude!" Hilde slapped him.

"Sorry babe. Pass the peas please." Hilde passed him the bowl his eyes were so intent upon.

"It's almost as if nothing has changed. We know Hiiro is here, but he's not _here_ at the table with everyone else. It's odd, but strangely comforting in a way."

"You call that comforting Catherine?" Dorothy laughed. Suddenly the room grew slightly cooler, and seemed a little smaller. 

"Hiiro, Serena, you made it!" Quatre smiled at them. They both nodded, and Serena gave him a small smile. As they rounded the table, Hiiro pulled Serena's chair out for her, and she thanked him as she gracefully slipped into it. He pushed it in and took his own seat. The table was silent with awe.

"You know Serena…" Hilde broke the silence. "We used to have a joke about the chair you're sitting in."

"Really?" Serena asked, looking down at her empty plate.

"We used to joke it was saved for Hiiro's invisible girlfriend."

"Guess she's not invisible tonight." Hiiro muttered loud enough so that the table heard him. Serena simply smiled, and Hiiro smirked. "Quatre, the blue bedroom is still open."

"So Serena's not staying? Oh, that's too bad." Quatre choked on his words.

"I never said that. I just said the bedroom was empty."

"Hiiro…" Serena gave him a reprehensive glance, and he stopped. 

"Wait just a darn minute Yui. You expect us to believe you went to the past, fell for the historian that went with you, and are now back, talking, and have a girlfriend? Not likely." Wufei snorted.

"Why not Wufei?" Sally asked, grinning like a maniac.

"It's just not Yui! There's no way! Nothing in the world could convince me."

"Nothing?" Sally prodded her boyfriend.

"Short of a kiss? No. And that's laughable." The table's occupants began to chuckle, all save two. Hiiro growled lightly, and Serena simply blushed.

"Is that so Wufei?" Hiiro snarled playfully. Then he grabbed Serena's hand and forced her to stand with him.

"What's going on Hiiro?" She whispered, a little nervous. 

"Just proving a point." Hiiro told her objectively. Then he looked at the table for a second, as if sizing it up. After a moment, he took his arm and swiped at everything on the table, knocking it out of the way. Taking Serena, he flung her into the table and wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her head into his until his lips crashed upon hers. Sweetly and delicately, but with brutal force, he swept through her mouth, loving the tingling in his lips, the heat building in the rest of his body, and the lightheadedness that was associated with kissing Serena. 

Serena allowed his attack as elegantly as she could, being sat upon a table and plundered before a crowd of people. Every last inch of her body craved the touch of Hiiro's skin against her own, and the maddening drive to have more brought her to a level of ecstasy which she had only dreamt of before. Moaning sweetly into his mouth, she let him know just how much she adored the feeling of being wanted this way so deeply.

When they finally broke from the kiss, Serena smiled at Hiiro and ran her fingers through his messy coffee colored hair. "Sweet talker." She muttered.  
"You don't look so invisible to me anymore…" He groaned back, wishing he had kept their kiss up much longer. When he turned back to Wufei to gloat in victory, he found he had no need.

The Chinese pilot sat with a napkin plastered to his face, shock and awe etched into every muscle. "Wufei, when you have a bloody nose, you're supposed to tilt your head back. I know Hiiro and Serena are very interesting, but it's for your own health…" Sally tried not to giggle as she lectured her boyfriend.

"My girlfriend is not invisible any more." Serena giggled, and Hiiro smirked. Not that she had ever been invisible to begin with… *

The end.

~~~Well everyone, that's it! My final chapter for my final fic. For now. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long. Was it worth your wait? I certainly hope so! Please review & tell me what you thought on a scale of 1-10, 1 worst, 10 best, and why!~~~

~~~I know that it may seem like I'm leaving ff.net for good, but that's not true! I'm still an avid reader, and I keep up with everything going on in the site. I just need to take a break from writing for a while. I will be back though. I know everyone seems to think this is it. It is, but only for a while. I will make a come back, so always look for me! And yes, I promise to keep my stories up on ff.net for everyone always! I still have two other on going fics as well, so I'm not gone completely yet. Just look for me, and I'm easy to find! Much love and thanks to you all for your support, Vixen ~~~


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